


Featuring Seungcheol

by kwaninoni



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Goofy Dickhead Seungcheol, How Do I Tag, Internalized Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Rating will change, Sexual Content, Song-Writer Jeonghan, Swearing, Underage Drinking, Update tags as I go, just a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 09:39:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 37,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12932553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwaninoni/pseuds/kwaninoni
Summary: Jeonghan, in his senior year of high school, is finally given the opportunity to accomplish the one thing he's wanted to do since he could talk; record an original song.So when his producer (who happens to be a close friend) tells him that his song needs a rap verse before he can record it, he's stumped.Enter Seungcheol; simultaneously someone that Jeonghan wants to murder, but also the only person he wants to feature in his song.Will Jeonghan manage to record and release his long-awaited song without a hitch?Of course not.At least not if Choi Seungcheol has anything to say about it.--(alternatively titled '"You Need A Rapper"')





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO AGAIN LONG TIME NO SEE! ! so in my last story’s notes i mentioned smth about this fic that i wrote quite a while ago now and i said i was thinking about posting the 1st chapter soooo here i am !!
> 
> I’m just posting the first chapter for now ((although i do have a hefty word count on the whole thing so far)), to check the response n whatnot.,,
> 
> this was originally a one shot but it got too long so splitting it up into chapters was aNNOYING but i did it anyway so sorry if the flow between chapters is off y’all; i triEDD
> 
> ANYWAY thanks for reading this far, and if u have time, drop a comment bc I LOVE FEEDBACK
> 
>  
> 
> edit: this fic has a lot of cliches but i promise they're self-aware. meaning im aware that im making all these cliches bc its a cliche hs fic with a less cliche plot. ^^ so beware if u arent into cliches, idk if you'll dig this (but give it a go bc i really am self-aware, theyre not accidents)
> 
> thank uuuuu

When Jeonghan entered senior year, he expected things to be completely different; he’d have more respect, a lower procrastination rate and most importantly _his driver’s license_. None of these things ended up happening, much to the boy’s disappointment. He somehow managed to gain even less respect in the new year, he still procrastinates way too much for his status, and he still catches the bus, like every year before the current one. Now into his 5th week of school as a senior student (yay), he’s stuck once again doing the most mundane student activity imaginable; bussing to school.

Jeonghan stares out the window of the bus, rain pouring and freezing the glass, that was now too cold to touch. Of course he forgets his umbrella the one day it rains. He sighs and gets up as the bus arrives at his stop. The wind and rain hit him like a truck, blowing his styled hair wildly out of place. Scrunching his face in disgust, he starts trudging towards school, already not looking forward to another day. He’s just started the fairly short walk when he suddenly notices the rain has stopped. Confused, he looks up and sees the underside of a matte black umbrella. Attached to that umbrella is an arm dressed for winter. Jeonghan looks behind him and sees a boy in a dusty pink hoodie, the strings of his hood pulled tightly so that only his nose is peeking out of the hood. The hooded boy holds out the umbrella to Jeonghan, insisting he take it.

When Jeonghan just blinks at him, the boy pushes it into his hand and jogs off by himself. Now with an acquired umbrella, Jeonghan’s mood lifts immediately. ‘ _I wish I knew who it was that gave it to me though. I thought I saw some black fringe, who could it be?_ ’ Jeonghan thinks about it the whole way to school.

Jogging up to the gate, the bell rings and he dashes inside and heads straight for his first class. Maths. Possibly the most boring subject in the whole world, rivaled only by Social Studies. To make matters worse, he had both classes with his unofficial nemesis, the school dickhead, Choi Seungcheol. Who of course, the Social Studies teacher decided to pair him up with last lesson for an upcoming assignment.

At least this year he gets free study periods, which for Jeonghan, means listening to music and writing songs; something he’s been passionate about since he could comprehend the difference between singing and speaking. The song writing only really started about 3 years ago, when he met his idol, who encouraged him to pursue his own music career. As cliché as it sounds, Jeonghan really took those words to heart and began writing right away. Soon, he learnt that he had a knack for it and the lyrics came easy to him, as though his heart had been waiting for the day when he’d finally express himself properly.

Jeonghan, realising he is still carrying the strangers’ umbrella, quickly stuffs it in his bag before flattening his haywire hair. He assumes the class will be mostly empty, due to the fact that all the good students get to go on a Maths excursion. How fun. Jeonghan didn’t make the cut and honestly, couldn't be more pleased. Who in their right mind wants to go on a Maths excursion anyway? Sounds more like a punishment than a reward for being a good student. The only downside about not going on the excursion, was that he was stuck with the rest of the lazy kids that didn't get to go either. Already knowing this won’t be a great lesson, he takes a few deep breaths, then walks into the classroom.

 As per expectation, most of the seats are empty— only about 4 seats are occupied in fact— and one is taken by Seungcheol. Jeonghan doesn't even look at him as he walks straight to the back of the class, and takes his seat in the corner. He likes this spot the most because his desk is out of view of the teacher, meaning he can listen to music and concentrate on his lyric writing instead of doing his work. Of course, now that the class is almost completely empty, he won’t be able to do either. He just hopes the teacher won’t make them do too much work when there’s only a few students present.

 The teacher finally walks in, late as usual, not that Jeonghan’s complaining, it just means less work, even for a few minutes. To his delight, the teacher writes, ‘FREE PERIOD’ on the board then without saying a word, sits at his desk and pulls out a bagel. ‘ _Was our maths teacher always this chill?_ ’

Not wasting a moment, Jeonghan rummages through his bag trying to find his earphones. He searches every single pocket but they don’t turn up anywhere. Glancing around he notices a pair of earphones sticking out of someone’s bag. ‘ _Well, if they aren’t using them…_ ’ . Without drawing attention, he gets up and goes over to the earphones persons desk. They have their face buried in their arms, trying to sleep or something. Jeonghan is about to speak when he notices the dusty pink hoodie they’re wearing. It’s the umbrella guy! He speed-walks back to his own bag and pulls out the umbrella, before returning to the slouched dusty pink hoodie.

Tossing up between waking up the guy and just shoving the umbrella in his bag, Jeonghan decides to do the latter. As he crouches on the ground and unzips the bag, an arm shoots out at lightning speed and grabs Jeonghan’s arm. Jeonghan stifles a gasp and looks up at the person that scared the living daylights out of him. It’s the dusty pink hoodie guy. No, it’s Seungcheol. Wait, Seungcheol was the one that gave him the umbrella this morning?.

 

“Uh, sorry I was just trying to return this” Jeonghan says awkwardly, holding up Seungcheol’s umbrella, “Thanks, by the way, for letting me use it”.

 

Seungcheol gives him a tired smile, having just woken up from the quickest nap Jeonghan has ever seen. “No problem, was there something else?” The sleepy boy asks, his head still resting on his arms, but facing Jeonghan.

 

“Actually, if you’re not using them, can I borrow these?” Jeonghan asks, grabbing the earphones from the side pocket of the bag. Seungcheol squints his eyes, thinking.

 

“I was going to use them in a bit, so since we both want to use them, why don’t we just share?” he says finally.

 

Jeonghan scans his face to see if he’s serious but all he gets is a sleepy smirk.

 

“It’s fine, thanks though” Jeonghan replies, getting up to go back to his desk.

 

He sits back down, wondering how he managed to stay so polite throughout their whole conversation. No more than two minutes later, Seungcheol grabs his bag and walks towards Jeonghans desk. He drops his bag down and sits at the desk beside Jeonghans.

 

“Did you want something?” The younger asks, drained of his good manners towards the boy who he usually doesn't have time for.

 

"No, but I’ll let you know when I think of something” Seungcheol says, pulling out his earphones. “Plug this into your phone and put some music on” he says, holding the earphones out.

 

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at him but does as he says. Scrolling through, he thinks of what to put on. ‘ _Would he mind listening to the music I like? What does he listen to?_ ’ He can’t believe he actually cares to be honest, but somehow he finds himself giving a shit.

 

“I’ll listen to anything” Seungcheol says, putting in one of the earphones.

 

Jeonghan decides on ‘Castle on the Hill’ by Ed Sheeran*, and puts the other earphone in his ear. Seungcheol nods approvingly and starts tapping his fingers to the music. Wanting to continue writing his lyrics, Jeonghan moves his arm in the way so that the other boy couldn't see what he was doing. He jots down some rhyming words here and there, figuring he’ll fit them in his song somewhere. Quickly becoming lost in his writing, he doesn't seem to notice Seungcheol becoming increasingly bored not doing anything.

 

“I’m bored” Seungcheol says, dragging out the second syllable.

 

Jeonghan shrugs, far too gone in his own world, “not my problem”

 

“But you’re sitting next to me”

 

“Actually you’re sitting next to me, I wasn’t the one that moved, remember?”

 

“Can I at least choose a song?”

 

“Fine”

 

Jeonghan gives in and unlocks his phone before handing it to Seungcheol, then returning to his own business. Seungcheol finds a song quickly, BLOCK B’s ‘It was Love’, but doesn't give the phone back. He opens the camera app and starts taking selfies. Despite facing away, Jeonghan notices and rolls his eyes. ' _He better not be spamming my camera roll'_. Trying to ignore him, Jeonghan starts doodling on the border of the page, but is interrupted by Seungcheol poking his sides.

He turns to him, shooting him daggers but looks up and sees Seungcheol attempting to take a photo with him. Jeonghan sighs but complies, smiling sweetly and pulling a ‘V’ sign hastily when Seungcheol takes the photo. He then holds his hand out for his phone but Seungcheol is already busy on another app, typing away.

When he’s finished, he hands back the phone satisfied. Jeonghan looks at his phone to see what he was doing and sees that he sent a message to a number he didn't recognise. All it read was ‘hey hot stuff’ with a photo attached. Slightly disturbed, Jeonghan opens the attached picture and sees that it’s the selfie they just took together with Seungcheols bright smile and sleepy eyes, alongside Jeonghans forced smile and lazy ‘V’.

Not knowing what else to do, he calls the number, wanting to know who the hell Seungcheol sent a message to from his phone. He waits for the person to pick up, silently hoping he isn't interrupting their class due to his curiosity. Suddenly, Seungcheol’s phone that was sitting on the table, lights up and starts vibrating. Jeonghan looks over and sees his own number lighting up the screen. Seungcheol turns it off, trying to hide his grin. Jeonghan gives him a sarcastic ‘really?’ look but can’t but laugh at the situation.

 

“Why did you text yourself ‘hey hot stuff’ on my phone?” Jeonghan asks in-between labored breaths.

 

“I wanted your number and figured you wouldn't give it to me if I asked” Seungcheol shrugs.

 

Jeonghan’s smile falters for just a second and he can feel a blush creeping up the back of his neck, “And should I ask why you wanted my number?”

 

“For our Social Studies assignment of course! Communication is key and I want to get a good grade. Speaking of which we should probably start that sometime soon, huh?” Seungcheol grins at him, showing off his gummy smile that Jeonghan definitely did NOT think was the most endearing thing he’d ever seen.

 

“Oh yeah… you’re right, I guess. If you had’ve said that I would’ve given it to you”

 

“Mhm oops completely my fault” Seungcheol says, nodding in fake understanding, just as the bell for next period rings.

 

“Whatever”

 

Jeonghan quickly gathers his things, pulling the earphones out of his phone and passing them to Seungcheol. He gives him a quick nod when they head out, going their separate ways.

 

\--- 

 

The rest of the day goes by quick, and Jeonghan finds himself collapsing onto his bed in no time. He sends a quick text to his friend Jihoon, whom he’d gotten close to over the past year, due to their similar love of creating music. Jihoon is finally letting him into his recording studio and Jeonghan couldn't be more excited. As soon as he finalises his lyrics, he is going straight into that recording booth and giving it his all.

But, as much as he likes writing lyrics, he has a hard time finding inspiration, having been single his entire life and the fact that he’s in the minority of ‘guys that like guys’. Not to mention that life as a borderline depressed high school senior isn’t exactly considered ‘exciting’ as much as it is just relatable. At least he has a target audience at that. Jeonghan usually makes up stuff in his lyrics or just uses the stories told to him by his friends. Despite being ‘inexperienced’ he is incredible at writing and telling stories through his lyrics. Which, is one of the reasons Jihoon sees so much potential in him.

Jeonghan puts his phone down and opens his laptop when he hears a ping from his phone and jumps. It’s from Jihoon. He never answers that fast.

 

 **woozi** : _im guessing you haven't finished the lyrics just yet but send me what you have so far_

 

Typing with fervour, he sends an email with his lyrics attached to Jihoon. He’s so nervous but excited and can’t wait for Jihoon’s expert opinion, no matter how harsh, he was ready for it. When he gets another message from Jihoon he opens it immediately.

 

 **woozi** : _very impressive. let me know when it’s done and we’ll talk some things over. i have an idea for your song but i’ll only know if its right when u finish it._

 

Jeonghan squeals with delight, immediately embarrassed at his own reaction to his friends critique. He can’t help but wonder what Jihoon has in mind for his song. He knows it’s going to be a good idea already, considering it’s from Jihoon’s genius mind. Jeonghan sends a message back thanking him and agreeing to go see him when it’s done. He can’t wait. After all that nervous energy building up, he suddenly feels so tired. He does his night routine sleepily and slips into bed.

Just thinking about becoming an artist makes a small smile creep on his face, as he drifts off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weee thats the 1st chapter!! looking back on this now in comparison to when i wrote it ((was it 10 months ago?)) is so wildt ,,, i like to think I’ve improved since these days of writing but whO KNOWS
> 
>  
> 
> so we got to see yjh’s attitude towards school + csc, as well as his passion towards song writing.! aaaaand ofc the introduction of jihoon as yjh’s ‘producer friend’.
> 
> i hope this peaks some interest but first chapters end up being slow anyway ((for me anyway lmao))
> 
> once again, i know it gets old, but comments are appreciated n i love feedback!
> 
> thanks 4 reading ^^


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seungcheol is testing jeonghan once again n yjh invites his pals out for milkshakes bc he's cute like that (and he has shit to tell them).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii sorry this chptr is a bit late (and short oops)
> 
> i hope ill be able to update more now bc school is out for the year wooooo
> 
> unbeta'd btw but maybe ill come back n edit it laterrrr (or not who knows)
> 
>  
> 
> thanku enjoy (n comment smth bc i love hearing from yall)
> 
>  
> 
> ((edit: not sure how obvious the groupchat names are but just in case:
> 
> 1004 = jeonghan  
> uwoo = wonwoo  
> july = jun  
> boo = seungkwan  
> chan = chan  
> joshua = joshua  
> hamster = soonyoung
> 
> aaaaand i just noticed that they're painfully obviouss. oh well, do continue, thanks.))

The morning after, Jeonghan feels spritely, and he swiftly makes his way to school, accompanied by his walking buddy Seungkwan, who ditched Jeonghan yesterday due to the rain and still feels bad about it. They make it to school fairly early and cruise through the first few classes. 

 

At lunch, he spends his time in the library trying his hardest to finish the song. By the time lunch finishes, he hasn't eaten and has Social Studies. It’s hard enough getting through this class anyway, but now he has to do it with an empty stomach. 

 

Jeonghan walks in and sits at his assigned seat by the door, much to his disgust. Leaning back in his chair he sighs heavily, mentally preparing himself for the torture that is this class. The students quiet down as the teacher gets up and starts writing the lesson plan on the board. Jeonghans stomach rumbles loudly into the silence, causing his face to go red as well as get a few laughs from his classmates. He leans forwards putting his head in his arms, trying to distract himself, when he feels a tap on his shoulder. It’s Seungcheol, sitting behind him at his desk. 

 

“Yes?” Jeonghan asks, still recoiling from his embarrassment. Seungcheol pulls out a piece of fruit and hands it to Jeonghan. 

 

“Heard you like bananas” he says with a wink. 

 

The class erupts in laughter as the teacher tries to calm them down. Jeonghan goes an even deeper red but still manages to ditch the banana back at Seungcheol before turning around and burying his head back into his arms. _Fuck’s sake! Why is he like this?_

 

“Um, ow?” Seungcheol says but Jeonghan doesn't bother turning around to say some smart remark. He’ll deal with him later. 

 

Unfortunately, the teacher has other plans. 

 

“All right class, get into the pairs I assigned you last lesson and get started on the assignments. I trust you haven't misplaced your criteria sheets?” Some kids groan and others are happy due to the fact they’re partnered with their friends. 

 

Jeonghan doesn't even bother lifting his head up. He doesn't have to. Seungcheol gets up then plonks himself next to Jeonghan once again. 

“We can’t seem to get enough of each other recently huh?” he says, shaking Jeonghans arm, trying to get him to sit up. 

 

He peeks past his arms and glares at Seungcheol, before returning his face into his sleeves. 

The other just laughs and continues shaking him. 

 

“Was it something I said?” he asks, smirking. 

 

Jeonghan lifts up his head then gets up from his chair, walking over to the teachers desk. He wants to make Seungcheol think he’s switching partners. He succeeds. Seungcheol walks quickly over to the desk as Jeonghan and the teacher stop talking. He only asked when the assignment was due but Seungcheol seems quite flustered. 

 

“Hey, I’m sorry okay? Can we go do the assignment now?” Seungcheol blurts, looking at Jeonghan with wild eyes.

 

_Weirdo._

 

“Sure, go back to the desk I’m grabbing materials” Jeonghan says waving a hand at him. Seungcheol nods stiffly then does as he says. Jeonghan waits a bit before also heading back to the desk.

 

“What happened to ‘grabbing materials’?”Seungcheol asks. 

 

“I changed my mind, let’s do a powerpoint instead”

 

“Whatever, you’re the boss”

 

“Too right”

 

Jeonghan pulls out his laptop and they get started right away, not without first arguing over the theme. Eventually, Jeonghan wins and they do a sleek black and white theme instead of their other option; Seungcheols surprisingly exuberant choice of blue and pink. 

 

The hour passes by quickly, with the two arguing over detail and Jeonghan taking over most of the actual information portion of the assignment. The bell rings to signal the end of last period. It’s finally home time and Jeonghan cannot wait to get the fuck out. He says a quick goodbye to Seungcheol and sprints out of school all the way home, simultaneously sending Seungkwan an apology text for not waiting for him. Throwing open the door, he dives onto his bed and gets to writing. No more than 2 hours later, after intense writing and re-editing, he finishes the song. Checking the time he sees it’s not too late to go out. ‘ _I can tell them the good news over some milkshakes…’_

 

Jeonghan texts his group chat:

 

**1004:** _y'all get your asses over to 8th ave!! we’re having milkshakes_

 

**1woo:** _What decade are we in? The 80s?_

 

**july:** _im down if you’re buying_ ヽ _(_ ゜ _∇_ ゜ _)_ ノ

 

**boo:** _lets walk there together, i’ll be there in 5!! <3_

 

**chan:** _I’m already here, how did you know?…_

 

**Joshua:** _I’ll be off my shift in twenty, I’ll meet you there a bit later :3_

 

**hamster:** _YAAAY im with jun tho some1 needs 2 be buyin’_

 

**1004:** _UGH you guys are annoying. okay i’ll buy for chan, soonyoung and jun bUT THATS IT!!_

 

**july:** _aw thanks dude~~_

 

**1woo:** _Wow, rude._

 

**boo:** _^_

 

**Joshua _:_** _^^_

 

**chan:** _Thanks hyung :)_

 

**hamster:** _YEAAAAH BOIII I’LL BE RIGHT THERE!!_

 

Jeonghan sighs, putting his phone away and grabbing a coat on his way out.

 

He's going to end up broke before he even starts making money.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weeeee i h8 this chptr but what can u do /shrug
> 
> next chptr SHOULD have some meanie n verkwan but i might post-pone one so its not so crowded...
> 
> bc rn its lookin a bit forced n i dontlikeityikes
> 
> thanks 4 reading (even if u skimmed it n hated it ) :)))


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the two groups merge, drink milkshakes together, and seungcheol & co find out that jeonghan is G A Y (yh thanks minghao) and it's gr8.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall im tired but here have this lil chapter, bc ive just been super not-busy meaning i don't have any excuse NOT to post it.
> 
> 0.0
> 
>  
> 
> anyway there's a bit of meanie in here bc i thought "why not" n just chucked it in. it CAN go somewhere if yall don't have any objections but otherwise i can totally blow it off to focus more on seungcheol and jeonghan (the side pairing wont affect the main one but some times its a bit distracting??? idk yall) 
> 
> OOH ALSO i did the thing that i said i would do, and kicked the verkwan out of this chapter so it was less crowded. BUT DO NOT FRET! they'll appear reallllll soon(young). 
> 
> (unbeta-d 4 the time being)

Jeonghan looks up the street and sees Seungkwan running towards him, waving. He smiles and waves back then waits for his friend hauling ass to his house. When Seungkwan arrives, they make their way to the milkshake place. They walk in together and see only Wonwoo and Chan, sitting at their usual table. 

 

“Hey guys, thanks for being punctual as always” Seungkwan says, taking a seat.

 

“I already told you that I was here anyway! You guys are creepy… how’d you even know I was here?” Chan says, standing up to hug Jeonghan then Seungkwan.

 

“Chill Chan, you do realise this is one of only two places we go to regularly, right?” Wonwoo says, beckoning Jeonghan and Seungkwan to come over to him to hug him because he can’t be bothered getting up. Jeonghan just rolls his eyes and sits down. Wonwoo pouts then goes back to his menu. 

 

One by one all the guys start rolling up, all demanding milkshakes bought by Jeonghan. When he asks them why they can’t just buy their own, Soonyoung says “It tastes better when it’s bought by someone else” which receives some slaps to his head but also some nods of agreement. 

 

Jeonghan ends up buying everyone milkshakes except for Joshua and Wonwoo. All the boys enjoy their milkshakes and engage in an intense conversation about the obvious relationship between their two homeroom teachers, when Jun and Wonwoo start whispering, glancing up and then at each other, giggling. Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at Seungkwan who also noticed the two’s weird activity. 

 

“What are you guys giggling about?” Chan asks out of the blue.

 

“Wonwoo spotted a hot guy sitting by himself and was considering asking him to join us” Jun blurts, quickly receiving Wonwoos hand clamping over his mouth. Everyone’s eyes widen and look at Wonwoo who is blushing furiously. Jun, Seungkwan and Soonyoung are all laughing their heads off. Jeonghan turns to look where Jun was looking when he said that and he sees a very tall boy around their age, sitting by himself, looking at his phone. He looks back at Wonwoo who is still mad and hitting Jun for exposing him. 

 

“Why don’t you just ask him if he’s waiting for someone, then if he isn’t, invite him over” Joshua says.

 

“I don’t know… would you guys be all right with that?” Wonwoo asks, uncharacteristically timid.

 

“Duh! Go get him hyung!!” Chan says, slapping Wonwoo on the back.

 

Wonwoo scowls at Chan but gets up anyway and walks over to the boy. The group watches as he converses with the tall kid, immediately all recognising Wonwoo’s flirty smile. In no time at all, Wonwoo is walking back with the tall guy in tow. 

 

“Everyone, this is Mingyu” he says, raising a hand in Mingyu’s direction as the latter finds himself a seat at their table.

 

“Will you be joining us this afternoon?” Soonyoung asks in a mock British accent.

 

Mingyu laughs politely. “I was supposed to meet my group of friends here but they’re out planning my birthday altogether so I think they’re running a bit late.” he says, smiling so much he reveals his prominent (and adorable) canine teeth.

 

“Oh that’s fine, so did you want to wait with us? It’s better than being alone right?” Wonwoo asks innocently, causing Jun and Seungkwan to stifle their laughs.

 

“Yeah, thanks! I saw you when I came in and thought you were pretty hot so this turned out better than expected for me” Mingyu says, staring directly into Wonwoos eyes. 

 

Wonwoo starts choking on his drink which he had since picked up and started sipping. Everyone starts laughing as Wonwoo tries to compose himself after Mingyus bold confession. Mingyu gives everyone a toothy smile as Wonwoo sits at an empty seat beside Mingyu, who can’t stop smiling himself. He quickly blends into the group and bystanders would just assume he’s been there since day one. Mingyu and Wonwoo keep flirting back and forth until Chan just huffs, steals Wonwoos phone then gives it to Mingyu.

 

“Please, just give him your number, you could cut the sexual tension with a knife” Chan half-shouts.

 

Jeonghan gasps but Mingyu just giggles and obliges, typing in his number then handing the phone back to Wonwoo, who whispers a quick thank you to Chan. Not wanting it to get awkward, he quickly changes the subject.

 

“So, Mingyu, what school are you attending?” Wonwoo asks, sipping his drink which he hasn't had since almost choking to death.

 

“Actually I believe I go to your school. I transferred recently” Mingyu replies, watching Wonwoo.

 

“Woooahh really? That’s so cool, when did you transfer?” Soonyoung asks.

 

Mingyu is about to answer when a voice interrupts the group discussion. 

 

“Mingyu, is that you?”

 

Everyone turns to see who the voice came from and they are greeted with several somewhat familiar faces. 

 

“Choi Seungcheol?” Jeonghan chokes, receiving a half smirk from the man in question.

 

“The one and only” Seungcheol says nonchalantly. 

 

Seungkwan starts whispering to Chan about the other people behind Seungcheol, standing awkwardly, not knowing what to say. 

 

“Guys, come join! These guys are super fun I swear!” Mingyu says waving his friends over to their table.

 

The standing group of friends start pulling chairs and an extra table over to the group and all take their seats after exchanging greetings. 

 

“So what brings you guys here? Special occasion or just to hang out?” Seokmin, one of the recent additions to the table, asks politely.

 

“Actually, yeah, why are we here, Jeonghan? Was there a reason?” Seungkwan asks, suddenly puzzled, remembering Jeonghan never said why they decided to meet.

 

“Oh that, um… I’ll probably just tell you later” Jeonghan says, trailing off the end of his sentence.

 

“Ooh, is it something _private_?” Soonyoung asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

 

“What?! No, it’s nothing so I thought I’d just tell you some other time anyway”

 

It’s not like it was something secretive or anything, Jeonghan just felt weird saying it in front of people he didn't really talk to much, especially Seungcheol. But he can’t seem to wrap his head around why. And the way Seungcheol is biting his lip, perhaps out of habit, is not helping the situation.

 

“Is there someone new in your life? Perhaps your _love_ life?” Jun teases, grinning cheekily.

 

All the boys present look at him expectantly, causing Jeonghan to blush and stutter.

 

“N-no, it’s really nothing I swear, it was just a big deal to me and wanted to come here to celebrate a little bit”

 

The group lets it go fairly quickly after that, Jeonghan’s friends knowing he’ll tell them later anyway. The new additions to the group each get up to order a milkshake in succession, giving Jeonghan the opportunity to study each of them when they’re not paying attention. There’s Seungcheol, obviously, who is so good at socialising he could probably blend in just as well with a group of monks, as he can with 11 other teenage boys. Seokmin, who also hit it off right away with everyone, likely due to the fact that his smile is almost too blinding (Jeonghan genuinely has to look away when it gets too bright). Someone, who Jeonghan _thinks_ might be Hansol, is just soaking in all the conversation around him, occasionally giving input, but mainly just listening. Mingyu, who already seems whipped for Wonwoo, although Jeonghan is positive that it’s reciprocated anyway. And then there’s Minghao. Minghao kind of confuses Jeonghan, he’s quite hard to read and has seemingly been doing the same thing as Jeonghan has; scanning everyone, taking it all in. There’s something about him that throws Jeonghan for a loop. The fact that he’s squinting at Jeonghan, knowing fully well that he is being looked at by the exact person he’s scrutinising without a care in the world. ‘Now, that’s confusing, and slightly intimidating’. He hasn’t said a word since he joined the table, which is almost what scares Jeonghan the most. Like he’s building up to something, about to say something that will create silence at its profoundness. Well, when he finally opens his mouth, Jeonghan isn’t _entirely_ wrong.

 

“Jeonghan, which way do you swing?” Minghao asks suddenly, sounding genuinely curious, even leaning forward with his face in his hands for that added effect.

 

“MINGHAO you can’t just ask someone that! You barely know him” Mingyu gasps, slapping his arm.

 

“I wanna know too actually” Seungcheol says, leaning back in his chair, once again watching Jeonghan.

 

“Shut up Seungcheol, you’re straight, why do you care?” Mingyu scolds.

 

Jeonghans eyebrows raise and Seungcheol just shrugs at Mingyus question.

 

Seokmin reaches across the small table and pats Jeonghan gently on the forearm, “Jeonghan, it’s okay you don’t have to answer that, these two are just weirdos”

 

Jeonghans entire group of friends just start cackling, leaving the rest, except Jeonghan, confused.

 

“Are you serious? I guess you don’t know him at all because my gosh, is it obvious! This dude is fully homo” Seungkwan roars, catching his breath from his outburst.

 

Jeonghan hides a light blush behind his hand and swats at Seungkwan’s shoulder amidst the laughter between his friends. Once the laughter dies down, the chit-chat slips back into its easy-going pace, conversations traversing between the two merged friend groups with ease. 

 

 

 

“Well, this has been fun but I must away, dear children” Jeonghan sighs, standing up.

 

“Aw come on, stay for a bit longer hyung” Chan whines, tugging on Jeonghans sleeve.

 

“Yeah, you invited us here, what’s the rush to leave?” Wonwoo asks.

 

Jeonghan wasn’t about to say the _real_ reasons for wanting to leave, which were that Seungcheol had been staring at him the entire time, and the fact his sexuality had been revealed to everyone, so instead, he quickly makes something up.

 

“My aunt is visiting so my mother wants me home before she arrives to clean up” Jeonghan replies, proud of himself for thinking of such a great excuse.

 

“I smell bullshit” Jun says under his breath, just loud enough for Jeonghan to hear but ignore.

 

“I’ll go with you Jeonghan, I’m craving leftovers” Seungkwan says, scooting past all the chairs.

 

“Anyone else?” Jeonghan asks, grabbing his coat from his chair.

 

Chan and Soonyoung stand up and walk over to the two, getting ready to leave. 

 

“It’s been great meeting you all by the way, it’s weird how we never really talked to each other even though we go to the same school, but I guess high school just kind of works like that, huh? Also, Minghao is sorry for asking that blunt ass question earlier, he was embarrassed after he asked it” Seokmin says, looking at the group then at Jeonghan, giving a sympathetic smile.

 

“It was lovely meeting you all too, and it’s totally fine” Jeonghan says, returning the smile to both Seokmin and Minghao. 

 

Jeonghan decides Minghao isn’t as scary as he thought, when he notices the boy clinging to Seokmin like a koala as he turns to leave.

 

The four boys exit and walk home, leaving their newly formed supergroup to mingle some more. Jeonghan says goodbye to the other 3 at his house, as it’s the closest, and makes his way inside, saying hello to his mum, then heading straight into his room. He showers then jumps into bed, immediately receiving a message on his phone. Pulling up the message, he realises it’s from Wonwoo

 

**uwoo:** _We scattered not long after you guys left, why didn't you mention how late it was?!?!_

 

**1004:** _didn't realise it was my job to be timekeeper??? you seemed pretty cosy with Mingyu anyway i don't see why you're complaining about not leaving earlier ;))))))_

 

**uwoo:** _At least i have someone on my radar Jeonghoe!! Jealousy is not a particularly attractive quality hyuuung~ ;)_

 

Jeonghan groans and leaves Wonwoo on read, putting his phone on charge and rolling over to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL I SWWEAR IT'LL PICK UP SOON!!!!!!! im just getting the mundane stuff like the whole 'groups merging n everyone meets each other properly for the first time woo' out of the way.
> 
> also i DO realise that all(?) these chapters end the same way but i did mention that this was originally a huge oneshot so i just kind of cut off each chapter where it makes sense??? and it so happens that its repetitive?? idk. send help. 
> 
>  
> 
> IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR SIDE PAIRINGS (bc nothing is official) OR JUST THINGS THAT U WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN IN THIS FIC LET ME KNOWWW I WANT INPUT. so yh feel free to yell at me in the comments w criticism n feedback n whatever.
> 
>  
> 
> (sorry for the long start+end notes) I appreciate everyone taking their time out to read this stupid fic, lots of love b's.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan accidentally exposes himself to seungcheol (probably not in the way you're thinking) and jeonghan n seungkwan get invited to mingyu's birthday party!!
> 
> (and jihoon settles some things n is pushing the rebel agenda onto jeonghan)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooo im back with another chapter of 'TSUNDERE JEONGHAN AND OBLIVIOUS "STRAIGHT" SEUNGCHEOL'
> 
> i hope yall had a merry christmas, and for everyone that doesn't celebrate it, i hope you had a happy holiday!! <3
> 
> this chptr is a bit shorter than what i wanted (deja vu wow) so im thinking about posting another chptr tomorrow?? maybe? or in a couple of days?? idk yet...
> 
> anyway enjoy jc's frustrating antics aND ACTUAL PROGRESSION AT THE END WHOOP!!!
> 
> (read end notes if u wannnnaaaa)
> 
> AND WATCH NU'EST AND SVT'S HEAVEN BC PLEDIS JUST RELEASED IT OFFICIALLY WOOOOO

Jeonghan wakes up later than he ever has before and ends up sprinting out the door, the only thing accomplished that morning was the fact that he got changed out of his PJ’s. Jogging into the school, he catches a glimpse of his appearance in the reflection of the window by his homeroom class. Huffing and regretting waking up so late, he strolls in trying to casually cover his face and hair with his hoodie. Jeonghan keeps his head low and to himself, up until lunch when he spots his friends in the cafeteria, accompanied by many others. He walks over and plops himself on the seat situated between Seungkwan and Soonyoung, who were as usual, in the middle of a heated debate over something stupid. Jeonghan glances around the table and sees that it’s exactly the same people he was sitting with yesterday afternoon.

 

“Wonwoo invited us over, in case you were wondering” Mingyu says from his seat on the end of the table next to Wonwoo.

 

Jeonghan gives him a wave of acknowledgment and gets to eating quietly. He finishes his simple lunch of rice and leftover beef quickly then heads to the bathroom. ‘ _I haven’t had the chance to fix myself the entire day, I must look revolting’._ Walking straight to a mirror, he takes off his hood and gasps. His hair isn’t knotty or anything, it’s just super wavy, a look no one has seen except Jeonghan and his mum, due to his constant hair-straightening. He tries wetting it with water and combing it with his hands but nothing seems to work. Ready to give up and live in his hoodie the rest of the day, no matter the intense afternoon heat, he hears someone turn on the tap behind him. He pulls his hood up as fast as he can before turning around.

 

“There’s no point hiding it Jeonghan, I already saw it” Seungcheol says, shaking the excess water off his hands. 

 

Jeonghan scrunches up his face “You will tell no one of what you saw here today” he threatens, squinting his eyes at Seungcheol. 

 

He just laughs and ruffles Jeonghans hair through the hood, before having his hand slapped away. 

 

“Promise you’ll say nothing?” the wavy-haired boy asks, clearly desperate. 

 

“What’s the big deal, it’s just how you style your hair? It looks cute anyway, I actually don’t see why you don't wear it like this all the time” Seungcheol muses, running a hand through his own gelled, black hair. 

 

Jeonghan looks at him like he’s crazy but can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside. He’s always been self-conscious about his naturally wavy hair and having someone wash away those doubts was so refreshing. Even if it was Seungcheol of all people. 

 

“Uh regardless, will you please shut your face until I figure out what to do?” he asks, punctuating his sentence by poking Seungcheols shoulder. 

 

The older starts to nod but then thinks about something. “On second thought, I think you might have to make me” Seungcheol states, leaning back against the bathroom wall. 

 

“What do you mean?” Jeonghan questions after pouting momentarily. 

 

Seungcheol raises a single eyebrow at him and smirks. “It’s hard to converse with the innocent” he sighs and starts to walk off but Jeonghan grabs his arm, yanks him back and pushes him hard against the wall. 

 

Seungcheol is surprised at first but his amused smirk quickly returns. 

 

“First of all I’m not innocent, not in the slightest you shit, second, I don’t mean to be a walking homo stereotype, but mess with me or my hair again and you will regret it” Jeonghan hisses into Seungcheols ear. 

 

He backs off and walks out of the bathroom, followed by Seungcheol who catches up to him and walks by his side. 

 

“You know you’re kinda hot when you’re mad” Seungcheol says, looking forward and grinning widely. 

 

Jeonghan just rolls his eyes, ignoring the flush of heat creeping up his neck, blaming it on the hot hoodie. They get back to the cafeteria just as the bell rings for the next class.

 

“Where the heck were you two?” Wonwoo asks, an arm draped over Mingyus shoulder.

 

“Bathroom” Jeonghan replies curtly, before speed-walking to his next class, leaving plenty of confused friends in his wake.

 

 

—

 

 

Jeonghan exits his last class, hot and exhausted from having to wear his hoodie all day with his hood permanently up and over his head. He walks home with Seungkwan and Hansol, as it turns out he lives nearby too. Jeonghan feels like he’s third-wheeling **hard,** but can’t do anything about it so he just puts up with it. When they’re nearly at Hansols house, the youngest pipes up, suddenly excited as if only just remembering something. 

 

“We’re throwing Mingyu a birthday party this weekend and you guys— as well as everyone else— are invited!” Hansol exclaims, grinning ecstatically.

 

“Ooh cool, we’ll be there, won’t we Jeonghan?” Seungkwan asks, looking at his hyung.

 

Jeonghan loves a party as much as the next guy, but lately just can’t seem to be bothered with doing anything other than writing. However, the eyes of his sweet younger friend are very convincing and he finds himself agreeing to attend.

 

“Great, I’ll text you the details later, okay?” Hansol says to Seungkwan, who nods in return.

 

“See ya later guys!” Hansol waves as he turns down his driveway.

 

“Ahem?” Seungkwan clears his throat sarcastically.

 

Hansol stops and turns around. Seungkwan is holding his arms out towards him. The tips of his ears turn noticeably pink, but he rolls his eyes, and gives Seungkwan a quick hug before disappearing into his house. Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at Seungkwan, but the latter just blushes and waves him off, continuing down the street.

 

“You do realise ‘this weekend’ is just the day after tomorrow right?” Jeonghan asks a pleased Seungkwan.

 

“Yeah, I guess, but I heard Mingyu was having it Friday night rather than Saturday, so actually it's just a day away now.” Seungkwan says thoughtfully.

 

They each return home and Jeonghan emails Jihoon the finalised lyrics to his song. Jihoon responds almost immediately.

 

**jihoon:** _yes!! it’s just how i thought, time to put my plan into action!! ditch school tomorrow morning and come to my studio to talk_

 

Jeonghan is happy that Jihoon is pleased and is more than willing to skip school for the morning to visit his producer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY its over
> 
> im in the middle of writing a random soonhoon oneshot (not this universe), and im not sure if it'll ever see the light of day bc it might end up including smut n idk how that's gonna go down but.... we'll sEE! (fyi its idolverse and uhhh jihoon finds out he has a 'thing' for seeing soonyoung get mad(???) ITS NOT AS BAD AS THAT SOUNDS... KIND OF.. im still not sure how to end it like does it end w smut orrrrr fluff orrrr w????
> 
> if i tolerate it enough i could post it?
> 
>  
> 
> as always, comments are appreciated (just like all of you<3)
> 
>  
> 
> (i k now im gross but its true)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan skips school, jihoon finally tells jeonghan what he has been planning, and seungcheol and jeonghan make a bet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIIIII im earlier than usually bc i said i'd post another chapter in a couple of days so... here it is!
> 
> i'm actually kind of pleased with the dialogue in the chapter so that's something new...
> 
> ALAS, thanks for reading and if u were wondering about those side-pairings, check the end notes please!!

Excited could not even begin to describe what Jeonghan was feeling that next morning. He decided against telling his mum about visiting Jihoon and skipping school, even though he’s fairly sure she wouldn’t mind. Checking the address Jihoon gave him on his phone, he realises it’s only a 20-minute walk in the opposite direction to school. Before he forgets, he texts Seungkwan to tell him that he won’t be walking that morning. He gets a reply immediately,

 

**boo:** _that's fine!! i’m walking with hansol anyway 0.0 <3_

 

Jeonghan smiles at the message, glad he isn't completely abandoning his long-time friend alone. He starts the walk at a brisk pace, quickly getting tired and slowing to his usual care-free walk, and arrives at the studio just as the bell for school would usually ring. He presses the buzzer at the entrance to the apartment building and Jihoon’s voice comes over the intercom, “come on up, man”. Jeonghan pushes the door open and rides the elevator to Jihoon’s floor, checking his phone for the apartment number. He gets off the elevator and finds the number he’s looking for. Before he can knock, Jihoon swings the door open.

 

“Jeonghan! Welcome, come on in” Jihoon says smiling, holding the door open for his friend.

 

Jihoon leads the way through the apartment and into his home office-studio, and Jeonghan is hit with an intense whiff of coffee.

 

Jeonghan steps inside the office, taking everything in before looking at Jihoon, waiting expectantly for instructions. 

 

Jihoon waves a hand about, “Have a seat wherever, let’s chat”

 

Jeonghan takes a seat on a comfy leather couch and puts a cushion in his lap. The office has a cozy, laid-back vibe, with a few scattered pillows and blankets draped over the couch. Beanbags are in every corner and in the one furthermost away from the door, there is a small mounted TV connected to a PlayStation. Across from the entry door, there's another door—next to a large desk topped with plenty of monitors and keyboards— which leads into his recording room. Contrasting his manly personality, Jihoon has fairy lights hanging from the window sills, illuminating their own tiny areas, adding to the sweet and cozy atmosphere. Jihoon sits in his chair at his desk, which Jeonghan thinks is too fancy to be an office chair. Jeonghan tells him as such and Jihoon laughs, explaining that it’s actually a gaming chair equipped with lumbar support. Jeonghan didn’t even know ‘gaming chairs’ were a thing.

 

Jihoon leans forward, a glimmer shining in his eye, hinting to Jeonghan he has an idea. 

 

“All right so, I analysed the lyrics and you tell me you have a pretty clear image of what you think it should sound like, which is great” Jihoon starts, gesturing with his hands like he’s conducting an invisible orchestra.

 

“Really? That’s great! But I get the feeling you haven’t said what you wanted yet” Jeonghan says.

 

“Yeah you’d be right about that, before I get started do you want something to drink?”

 

Jeonghan nods with a smile and Jihoon disappears for a moment and returns with some water, which he hands to Jeonghan before returning to his seat. 

 

“Okay so, when you sent me the half-completed lyrics, an idea sprang to mind immediately but I thought I’d better hold off until you finished them. So, I did, and then when you sent the finished product, it fit perfectly with what I had in mind”.

 

“And what would that be?” Jeonghan asks, curiosity eating away at him.

 

“The whole flow of the song would sound even better if there was a rap included between the chorus and 2nd verse. In short, you need a rapper.” Jihoon says, clasping his hands together.

 

Jeonghan is quite shocked, not in a bad way, at least he _thinks._ The thought never crossed his mind once, yet it seemed like quite a common thing to include in a song. 

 

“What do you think?” Jihoon asks, waiting expectantly.

 

“I think… well… whatever is best for the song…” Jeonghan answers, having not come up with his own opinion just yet.

 

“I can give you some time to think about it but not as much as I’d like because I’m on a bit of a tight schedule, not going to lie” Jihoon says, chuckling.

 

“No, no. I like the idea, just… who would write and record the rap?” Jeonghan asks, furrowing his brows in thought.

 

“I’d prefer if you found someone yourself to record the rap, as for who will write it, well I suppose it could be a collaborative effort, possibly between us and the rapper in question”

 

“Interesting. I’ll scout some people at my school, I’m sure someone will be able to rap, I mean it’s just fast talking, isn’t it? Anyone could do it.” 

 

Jihoon laughs and walks over to Jeonghan to pat him on the back and he feels as though he is passively being asked to leave.

 

“You do that, but please find a decent rapper, you’ve got something really good here and it’s only gonna get even better if you find the right person” Jihoon says, walking Jeonghan over to the door.

 

“I’ll keep a look out, thanks for seeing me so soon, I know how busy you get especially around this time of year” Jeonghan says, walking out and turning to his friend at the door.

 

“Good good, keep in touch and let me know when you’ve found someone”

 

“Will do” Jeonghan beams.

 

“And hey, get to school!” Jihoon says with a fake frown, pointing away from his office.

 

Jeonghan chuckles and walks the long trip to school, making it just in time for his second class for the day; Social Studies. He walks into the school as the bell rings to tell students to get to their next classes and Jeonghan blends right in and strolls to his SS class. Walking in, he sees all the other kids already sitting down and quickly rushes to his seat by the door, hoping his teacher didn't see his late arrival. Luckily for him, he doesn’t and gets marked as present just in time. Once the lesson begins and the teacher lets them loose to work on their assignments, Jeonghan decides to go to Seungcheols desk for a change. He sits on the chair next to him and opens his laptop, pulling up their presentation.

 

“Here’s the deal” Jeonghan starts, turning to look at Seungcheol who’s fiddling with his pen.

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes but continues “We aren’t going to finish this assignment in time at this pace”

 

Seungcheol looks up and raises a single eyebrow, still spinning his pen between his fingers.

 

“Why don’t you come over tonight to work on it?” Seungcheol asks, as the pen flies out of his hand and hits someone on the back of the head.

 

“No can do. I made a promise to go to Mingyu’s party tonight” Jeonghan explains, shaking his head.

 

“Oh yeah, me too. Saturday?” 

 

“ _Please,_ I plan on getting fucked up tonight so unless you feel like dealing with me hungover and complaining, then that’s a no-go too.”

 

Seungcheol scoffs in surprise and looks away as a smirk appears on his face.

 

“I didn't take you to be a drinker”

 

“I can handle my liquor just fine thank you very much!” Jeonghan hisses, suddenly aware of the atmosphere and the fact they shouldn't be talking so openly about drinking in school.

 

“We’ll just have to see if you can keep up with me tonight, huh?” Seungcheol grins.

 

“I could say the same to you, you seem like a lightweight”

 

Jeonghan was bluffing, but not completely. He was pretty good at drinking and could definitely handle quite a bit of alcohol, however, he was sure Seungcheol could probably handle it just a bit better. Not that he’d tell him that of course.

 

“Pffft, just wait Yoon Jeonghan, you’ll be my drunk puppet by the end of the night” 

 

“Whatever, let’s just do what we can on this assignment for now and see how we go” 

 

“All right” Seungcheol says, sliding the laptop over to his side.

 

Jeonghan is surprised to see his partner actually doing work for the group, but the feeling disappears as soon as he notices what he’s actually doing.

 

“Yah! What are you doing?!” Jeonghan yelps, snatching his laptop back and closing the tabs Seungcheol had open.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Seungcheol asks innocently.

 

“This isn’t sex-ed you twat, it’s Social Studies” Jeonghan whisper-screams at him.

 

Seungcheol just laughs an apology and goes back to doing nothing productive. The other continues making the presentation, occasionally taking suggestions from Seungcheol until the class is over. Jeonghan sprints to the cafeteria as soon as he’s let out, not even saying goodbye to Seungcheol. He has a mission to find his rapper and he wants to do it as quick as possible. Remembering a few of his friends were into rap, he tries them first. Each of them certainly know how to rap but Jeonghan just isn’t feeling it with them. He tries a few other people that they recommend but no one seems to be all that great. _Is it because I’m just not used to rap?_ He continues his search after the next couple of classes, during lunch, but he can’t find anyone. 

More than anything he was afraid of what Jihoon would say. Although Jihoon could probably just find one of his rapper friends and convince him to join in, Jeonghan felt as though Jihoon told him to find someone because he’d said that he wants this to be entirely Jeonghans song, even when the rap is introduced. That even though it’s not Jeonghans voice throughout the whole thing, it’s still Jeonghan that caused the other artist to be in the actual song. This was way more ‘self-produced’ than Jeonghan had anticipated. 

 

_‘I’ll have to try somewhere else or some other time’_ he thinks.

 

School comes to an end and Jeonghan walks back with Seungkwan and Hansol, who are chattering non-stop about the party that night.

 

“I swear if I see Chan drinking, I quit life” Seungkwan mumbles, completely serious.

 

“He’s old enough to know what not to do, Boo” Hansol says comfortingly.

 

“I know but I still worry about him, even if he’s only a little younger than me…” Seungkwan says mumbling the last part.

 

Once again Jeonghan is stuck feeling like he’s the third wheel. Occasionally he’ll give his opinion in their conversation, but for the most part he stays quiet and listens. He doesn’t mind usually but as time goes by he can tell they’ll get increasingly close until he really  _will_ just be a third wheel. As much as he complains though, he still finds them incredibly adorable together. The chatting continues until they part ways, all returning to their homes to prepare for the party.

 

It’s sure to get at least moderately out of hand.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we made it
> 
> thanks to everyone that’s been commenting so far and giving suggestions for side-pairings, it means a lot ///^o^////
> 
> I’m trying to be more organised and not crowd this fic w too many side pairings so here’s a thing:
> 
> which side-pairing do u want in this story?
> 
> a) soonhoon  
> b) seoksoo  
> c) junhao  
> d) no new side-pairings (so just meanie and verkwan)
> 
>  
> 
> AND bc it may end up getting too crowded, if i were to write another fic altogether in the same universe, which pairing would be the main?
> 
> a) soonhoon  
> b) seoksoo  
> c) junhao  
> d) meanie  
> e) verkwan  
> f) jeongcheol (but later on in life and their careers etc)  
> g) something else (give suggestion ^^)
> 
>  
> 
> thanks again!! sorry for making it so complicated :/ and if there's smth else u want or u want to give feedback on the fic in general, don't be afraid to comment~~


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan makes it to the party and (unfortunately) bumps into cheol on the way in.
> 
> seungkwan gets exposed, but it ends well for him anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall this is part 1 of a chapter i decided to split into TWO.
> 
> ummmmm there's a whole verkwan scene in here so if u aint into that,,,, u can skip it. it's nothing explicit, but i respecc the ppl that just arent down with (the funky sound) that type of thing.  
> BUT I STILL RECOMMEND YOU READ THE PART BC IT'S CUTE
> 
> ooh also there are links in the end notes so if u could let me know whether they work or not, that would be appreciated!!

Jeonghan showers and blow dries his hair before straightening it. He walks into his room and goes over to his wardrobe. Recalling back to a conversation he had with Mingyu, he remembers him requesting he stick to the ‘burgundy/maroon’ dress code. 

 

Sifting through his clothes he finds something suitable. It’s a loose burgundy button-up shirt made from some kind of felt or velvet material, which he layers on top of a cream shirt of the same kind with burgundy stripes. Finishing the outfit, he tucks his shirt in loosely, pulls on some black dress pants and shoes, as well as a black wide-brimmed fedora. Initially, he only wanted to cover his hair which was just not agreeing with him, but the hat completes the look well. 

 

He sits on his bed and scrolls through his phone feed for a bit before texting Wonwoo, asking what time he’ll be going. He gets a swift reply, with Wonwoo saying he’s already there. Jeonghans eyes flick to the time and he notices that it’s just about time for him to head over there too. He kisses his mum goodbye and calls a taxi to drive him there. There’s no way he’s walking there in those shoes.

 

He arrives and pays the driver, stepping out to be immediately greeted by a tall apartment block. ‘ _This is where Mingyu lives?’_ Jeonghan thinks, walking up to the building. He steps inside the elevator and presses the button to close the door, leaning against the cold metal of the elevator interior. Just as the door is about to fully close him in, a foot steps in-between the closing doors. The doors respond and open automatically again, and in walks the intruder, looking straight at Jeonghan. Oh no.

 

“Oh hey Jeonghan, you look —“ he stops for a moment to look Jeonghan up and down, “—good”

 

Jeonghan feels his cheeks heat up at the sudden compliment, which is weird because Seungcheol has complimented him before and he didn’t feel quite as flustered as he feels now.

 

“Thanks, you clean up pretty all right yourself, Choi Seungcheol,” Jeonghan says, pressing the button for the 9th floor and looking at Seungcheol.

 

Seungcheol is wearing the same striped shirt Jeonghan is wearing underneath his burgundy one, but Seungcheol has layered his _over_ a plain cream shirt of the same kind. He’s wearing black skinny jeans that hug his thighs a bit too well, and black shoes with laces. 

 

Jeonghan thinks about how similarly they’re dressed, the only real obvious difference being that the other wore his shirt untucked and long. ‘ _These clothes look like couple outfits’_ Jeonghan thinks frantically. ‘ _Not to mention we’re walking in there together’._

 

They stay silent for the short duration of the ride and step out into a hallway when the doors open with a ding. Thinking quick, Jeonghan kneels down to adjust his shoe, believing that Seungcheol would continue walking and enter before him. After a few more seconds of fiddling, he stands back up, expecting an empty hall. 

 

Just his luck, Seungcheol is standing just a few feet away from him, waiting with his hands in his jeans pockets. He gives him a weak smile and they continue down the hallway until they get to Mingyus door. Jeonghan is about to knock but Seungcheol just opens the door and gestures for him to enter. Jeonghan glances at him and walks in quickly, straight through to the nearest room, which happens to be the kitchen. 

 

He breathes a sigh of relief, leaning against the marble countertop. Looking up he sees quite a few more people than he expected, a giant sea of burgundy, maroon and a few people who didn’t get the memo. He spots Mingyu conversing with Wonwoo in the corner by a small group of girls who are staring intently at the pair with fire in their eyes. Here’s hoping jealousy doesn’t ruin Mingyus party. Jeonghan is about to go greet the two, but decides against it, when he sees Mingyu taking a step closer to Wonwoo. Continuing to watch the pair, he opens the fridge and grabs a beer, cracking it open whilst never taking his eyes off his friends. Wonwoo stiffens as Mingyu leans in towards him and whispers something in his ear. The surrounding girls also freeze and Jeonghan begins to wonder who it is they’re there for. It could be either of them, really, they’ve always had girls following their every movement. Mingyu and Wonwoo look over towards the kitchen, straight at Jeonghan, who quickly looks away, slightly embarrassed at being caught staring. They walk over and smile at Jeonghan who smiles right back.

 

“Glad you could make it,” Mingyu shouts over the loud blaring music

 

“Wouldn’t miss it” Jeonghan replies, just as loud. No sooner had he said it, he feels a hand on his shoulder.

 

He turns and is greeted by Seungcheols confused face. Seungcheol doesn't seem to notice how close their faces are but Jeonghan sure as hell does.

 

“Why’d you run off as soon as we got inside?” Seungcheol asks, leaning in towards him so he doesn't have to shout.

 

Jeonghan stiffens just as Wonwoo had done only minutes before. Seungcheol feels him tense up under his hand, so he slides it down Jeonghans arm and holds his wrist. They make eye contact and Seungcheol raises his eyebrows, still wanting an answer. 

 

“I just wanted to go see Mingyu and wish him a happy birthday before doing anything else” Jeonghan replies, trying his best to sound casual.

 

“You have all night to do that,” Seungcheol breathes into the other’s ear, “besides, don’t think I’ve forgotten about your challenge from earlier. I look forward to seeing you intoxicated and stupid”

 

Jeonghan pulls his hand away, lifts up his drink and downs it in one go.

 

“You’re on Choi” Jeonghan spits, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

 

“I’m not gonna like you drunk, am I?” Seungcheol asks, shaking his head.

 

“I think you’ll like me twice as much, but won’t want to admit it”

 

Seungcheol chuckles as he walks over to the fridge and grabs a beer, twisting the top off and taking a measly sip.

 

Jeonghan scoffs and only just notices that Mingyu and Wonwoo have left to talk to Jun who just arrived. He walks over to Jun and puts an arm around him. Jun tries to slide his arm around Jeonghans waist but Jeonghan grabs it and puts it around his shoulders instead.

 

“Any plans for this party or are we just drinking until we’re all in alcohol-induced comas?” Jeonghan asks Mingyu.

 

“I do have something planned but I’m waiting till the rest of the guys get here” he replies, eyeing the door. 

 

“Who’s left to arrive?” Jun asks, Jeonghan easily noticing he had a few drinks already before he came over.

 

Wonwoo scans the apartment and just as he’s about to reply, the front door opens and Seungkwan and Hansol walk in. “Well, those two,” he says flatly.

 

“Great, let’s get this thing started then, hey?” Mingyu says, grinning that stellar grin of his.

 

He guides the three over to the living room and they all take seats on various bits of furniture, Jun choosing to sit on the coffee table despite Mingyu's scowls.

 

Mingyu continues collecting people until all 12 of them are sat in the living room, accompanied by a few of Mingyu/Wonwoo's followers, as well as a few other girls that none of them seem to really know personally except Mingyu. He comes in after everyone with an unnecessarily large stainless steel bowl full of pieces of paper.

 

“So, because it’s my birthday and most of you forgot to bring presents,” Mingyu starts, sending a quick glare to Seokmin and Minghao, “I decided to make up this… game, I guess you could call it”

 

“Well, don’t leave us waiting! Explain already, I need another beer,” Seungcheol says, waving his empty beer bottle at Mingyu.

 

Mingyu just ignores him and continues. “I’ve written all your names on these individual papers and underneath your name is a dare or request personalised for you by me! Although… I don’t know some of you that well, so I may have just put something random for a few of you…” he finishes with another grin.

 

“Sounds fun, I’m gonna get my beer, you want one, Jeonghan?” Seungcheol says getting up from his beanbag next to Jeonghan. He nods and the other slinks off to the fridge.

 

“Sounds to me like we’re just being your slaves for the night” Hansol remarks.

 

“You know, you’re not wrong” Mingyu replies simply. “Okay, Wonwoo, pick a piece of paper without looking”

 

Wonwoo nods and does as he asks. He opens the folded paper. “Lee Chan,” he says as Seungcheol sits back down next to Jeonghan and hands him his beer.

 

Chan looks up at Wonwoo from his phone with wide eyes, clearly not thinking he’d be the first to be picked. 

“It says you have to do the shark family dance” Wonwoo laughs. 

Chan shrugs, gets up and stands in the middle of the unintentionally-formed circle. Immediately, he starts to dance and sing the shark family song. Everyone laughs and claps at his boisterous actions the entire time he’s dancing. When he’s done he sits back down and buries his face in his phone as Seungkwan pats him on the back, laughing. 

 

“Wow, this is actually fun” Soonyoung remarks, pulling another piece of paper out of the bowl upon Mingyu's request. “SEUNGKWAN-AH!” he shouts with gusto, throwing the paper into the air dramatically then scrambling to grab it again as he realises he hasn’t read the rest.

 

“Oh geez, what do I have to do?” Seungkwan asks, rightfully nervous.

 

Soonyoung's eyes widen as he reads the recovered little paper, which sends Seungkwan into a panic.

 

“Why, why, why?! Is it bad? Hurry up and tell me!” Seungkwan yells hurriedly.

 

“There’s two parts… the first part is that you have to tell Mingyu who you think is the most attractive in this room” Soonyoung says.

 

“Okay… what’s the second part?” Seungkwan asks with shifty eyes.

 

“Do the first part first, then I’ll tell you”

 

Seungkwan huffs and stands up. He goes over to Mingyu and whispers in his ear.

 

Mingyu smirks suspiciously, then nods at Soonyoung “Thanks, now Soonyoung read the next part”

 

Soonyoung coughs awkwardly before starting “You have to now go do ‘7 minutes in heaven' with that person”

 

Seungkwan freezes like a deer in headlights as the group starts ‘ooh’-ing like a bunch of 12 year-olds. He snaps out of it, then _really_ snaps. “Yah! Why did you make me tell you in secret if you’re just going to do this anyway, now everyone will know, you ass!” Seungkwan shouts amidst light-hearted laughter from his friends.

 

“Go on then, off you go,” Mingyu says, waving Seungkwan away, completely ignoring his pleas for mercy.

 

Seungkwan bites his lip. He doesn’t want to be the only one to bail on a dare, not to mention it _is_ for Mingyu’s birthday. Gritting his teeth, he storms off to another room, grabbing Hansol along the way and dragging him with him. The group starts cheering and wolf-whistling as they close the door behind them. The room they went into is the bathroom. Seungkwan sits on the side of the bath and puts his head in his hands.

 

“I’m so sorry, it’s not like we have to do anything, you’re just the person I chose to be the most attractive and it’s not like I _expected_ him to do this and I just—… Sorry” Seungkwan blabs.

 

Hansol chuckles and sits next to him. “You really think I’m the most attractive? Like, more attractive than _Mingyu_?” Hansol asks in mock disbelief.

 

“Duh! I mean look at you, you’re a visual god” Seungkwan blurts then covers his mouth with his hand, staring at the tiles with wide eyes.

 

Hansol is visibly taken aback and Seungkwan flinches, wishing he had a filter to stop himself from saying stupid stuff.

 

“If he had asked me, I would’ve said you,” Hansol says quietly.

 

“You don’t need to say that Sol” Seungkwan sighs “I know you’re only saying it to be nice”

 

Hansol slides off the tub, kneels on both knees in front of Seungkwan and takes hold of his hands, causing Seungkwan to sit up straight and stare in awe at his hands in Hansol's.

 

“I’m being completely honest. You’re beautiful, dude” he murmurs, just loud enough for Seungkwan to hear.

 

Seungkwan smiles as his cheeks warm up and flush a light pink.

 

“You’re a sweet kid, you know that?” Seungkwan says, ruffling Hansols hair.

 

“You’re sweeter” Hansol smirks.

 

Seungkwan chuckles nervously, “I don’t think so”.

 

“Well, how will I know for sure unless I find out for myself?” Hansol asks, cupping Seungkwans face with his hand oh-so-gently and leaning in enough so that their noses are almost touching. He pauses for a moment, his eyes flickering from Seungkwans eyes to his lips. 

 

And then he’s closing the gap by pressing his lips softly against Seungkwans, bringing his other hand up and placing it on the back of his neck. The kiss is broken by Seungkwan who breaks into a smile automatically and starts giggling. “That was quick” he breathes.

 

“I was only trying to make a point…” Hansol blushes.

 

“Hmm,” Seungkwan says, furrowing his brows, “How much time do we have left?”

 

Hansol checks his phone, “About 4 minutes”.

 

“I can do 4 minutes” Seungkwan shrugs.

 

“What do you me—“ Hansol is cut off by Seungkwan's lips crashing against his own passionately, his hands sneaking around Hansols waist and pulling him up gently until they’re both standing, lips still locked. Hansol twists them both around and pushes Seungkwan against the wall with a thud. They both freeze and part slowly, gazing into each other's eyes.

 

“Do you think they heard that?” Hansol asks, too busy enjoying himself to really even care.

 

“Who cares” Seungkwan breathes, speaking Hansols thoughts for him as he grabs a fistful of Hansol's hair, pulling him closer and nipping at his neck softly. He moves up his neck to his jawline, then finally to his lips which he latches onto quickly, biting Hansol's bottom lip enough to elicit a suppressed moan from the younger.

 

The two continue making out, slowly but surely getting more heated by the second. They lose themselves in the moment and forget about time completely, until the door swings open and there stands Mingyu in the doorframe. 

 

“I knew this was gonna happen,” The intruder says smugly, standing with his arms folded.

 

The pair separate immediately, both quick to wipe their mouths and hide their red faces. They walk back out in silence, pushing past a cackling Mingyu and heading back to the living room where the others are just finishing a conversation. The group look in the direction of the two and watch as they sit down quietly, avoiding eye contact, with their hands in their laps.

Jeonghan gets the feeling that whatever happened in that bathroom won’t even come close to being the most scandalous thing to happen by the end of the night.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooo vkwn is the realest shit, fight me about it.
> 
> if yall were wondering why tf i made jh n cheol's outfits so weird and specific, it's bc they were taken from these glorious looks:
> 
> jeonghan:  
> https://68.media.tumblr.com/e8b5ebe37f4b232ed74eb4892af6ed67/tumblr_opuhlrfFaU1ve8xo4o1_1280.jpg
> 
> cheol:  
> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_XHmX3VwAAHThG.jpg
> 
> both:  
> https://78.media.tumblr.com/17cd4e024ee418c80591813501031309/tumblr_opogl959F01uyo3s6o1_1280.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> (thanks for reading and sorry for not making the links click-accessible :/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone gets drunk at mingyu's party, and maybe jeonghan should listen to joshua more often...
> 
>  
> 
> he'll regret this in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooo it's been a while........... i hope 2018 is treating you well thus far!!!
> 
> thanks for reading, i hope u enjoy this chapter, jeonghan wilds out a bit......
> 
> i can't wait to get through this story yall... but theres angst soon (maybe next chapter or the one after?? i have no clue)
> 
> and i'll say it again when i post the angst chapter/s but I H8 ANGST (nothing against it, i just cant read it... or write it)
> 
> so thatS FUN.
> 
> anyway enjoyyyyy its a looong chapter

“Uhhh, I get the impression we all know the gist of what happened in that bathroom, so how about moving on, huh?” Mingyu says, following in their footsteps and returning to his seat.

 

“How about you pick the next paper, Minghao?” Seokmin offers, clearly trying to help in changing the subject back to their game.

 

“Sure, pass the bowl over,” Minghao reaches over and makes grabby hand motions until someone gives him the metal bowl.

 

“Alright, let’s see,” He draws a paper, “Seungcheol”

 

Seungcheol gives Minghao his undivided attention.

 

“You have to rap, that’s basically it,” Minghao reads, deflated.

 

“What kind of a dare is that?” Chan complains.

 

“Cheol is such a good rapper, I just wanted to hear him, to be honest,” Gyu informs the groupwith a shrug, “So go on then, show them what you’re made of, dude”

 

Seungcheol just pouts and shrugs playfully as he stands up. He sends Jeonghan a wink just before he starts his first line. 

 

He closes his eyes as he takes extra care to correctly pronounce every word that leaves his lips, the flow carrying him through his rap like he’s weightless. It’s so effortless that everyone present is left to wonder if he’s truly _just_ another high school student and not some underground rapper.

 

When Seungcheol finishes everyone claps, but no one as hard as Jeonghan, who’s staring at Seungcheol in awe. _Why him? Why is it him of all people, that has an incredible gift for rapping?_ Jeonghan ponders, mentally angry at the world for this heinous coincidence. 

 

Jeonghan gets chosen next and to his delight/dismay (he hasn’t quite figured it out), he has to take shots. He does them with ease and the game continues, each member doing something to please the sadistic birthday boy. Wonwoo is the last one chosen and his paper says to give Mingyu a lap dance. He obliges, of course, possibly because he’s more than slightly intoxicated, and begins shaking his butt in Mingyus face. It’s not exactly a lap dance but Mingyu enjoys it all the same, howling with laughter. 

 

After that ordeal, the game comes to an end on a high note. Everyone scatters as soon as it’s over, some getting drinks, others heading to the dance floor or karaoke machine. Jeonghan has so many questions swirling around in his mind, and they all revolve around Seungcheol and his rapping. He knows he’ll never find a rapper as good as Seungcheol, but how was he supposed to ask? Surely he can’t just go up to him and be like “ _Oh hey Seungcheol, I know we’re supposed to not really like each other at all at the moment, but how would you feel about featuring as a rapper on a song I wrote?”_ That would be just insane, wouldn’t it? The more he thinks about it the more his mind changes. Jihoon really wants this song done quick and Jeonghan can’t imagine he’ll find someone else even close to Seungcheols level of skill, at least not soon. _What do I have to lose by just asking?_

 

Jeonghan re-locates Seungcheol, once again by the alcohol, and makes his way over, trying to seem as low-key as possible. He slides in next to Seungcheol, leaning his butt against the kitchen countertop. 

 

“You’re really good at rapping,” Jeonghan says, forcing a smile to hide his nerves.

 

“So I’ve been told,” Seungcheol laughs and Jeonghan chuckles politely.

 

“I have a question…” Jeonghan trails his sentence.

 

“Fire away”

 

“Uh… well, I’m… I’ve written…—“ Jeonghan starts, unable to bring himself to speak.

 

“C'mon dude, spit it out, you’re making me curious,” Seungcheol sighs.

 

“Okay, so I’ve written a song and it was approved by my music-producer-friend and he gave it the go-ahead but I need to add a rap part to it and he wanted me to find a rapper, so when I heard you rap I thought maybe you could feature on my song, maybe?” Jeonghan blurts in one breath.

 

“… What?” Seungcheol asks, now facing Jeonghan fully.

 

“Oh god, don’t make me say it again, geez,” Jeonghan groans.

 

“No, I heard you, just… you sing?” Seungcheol asks, bewildered.

 

_Uh-oh, I hadn’t thought this through, he’ll actually have to hear me sing at some point._

 

“I mean, yeah I do but it’s not like I’m a professional or anything, it’s more of a hobby”

 

“It’s a great hobby to have. And about that request? I’ll do it!” Seungcheol beams.

 

Jeonghan feels a huge weight lift off his shoulders “Really? You will?”

 

“On one condition,” Seungcheol says, his wide smile disappearing as soon as it appeared.

 

“Uh yeah, what is it?” Jeonghan asks, feeling his nerves slowly building once again

 

“You have to sing for me. Or, actually, you have to sing _to_ me. A ballad. Right here, right now”

 

“W-what? To you? A _ballad_? Right now?” Jeonghan stutters.

 

Seungcheol nods, “Just use the karaoke machine and pick a song, then dedicate it to me,” he says smugly.

 

“Forget about it, why would I do that for you anyway?” Jeonghan mumbles, turning to walk off.

 

“Because you need me _and_ wouldn’t it make sense for me to hear your voice before I agree to something like this? I mean you could be total shit for all I know,” Seungcheol calls after him, making him stop in his tracks and return to him. ‘ _Fuck, I hate it when he makes sense,’_ he thinks.

 

“I’m only doing this for my producer, not you, so don’t get any weird ideas you dumb hetero,” Jeonghan spits.

 

Seungcheol claps excitedly and runs off to gather the group once again, this time in front of the karaoke machine. Jeonghan sighs, does some more shots to calm his nerves, and walks over to Joshua, explaining what’s happening. As he’s explaining, he gets an idea.

 

“Shua, I need your help. I’m going to get revenge on him for making me do this”

 

“Uh, wouldn’t that detriment your chances of getting him to feature?” Joshua replies warily.

 

“No, because this still fits into the guidelines, technically. So will you help?” Jeonghan questions.

 

“I guess, tell me what I have to do” Joshua sighs

 

“Half-way through the song I pick, I need you to change it to a different song,” Jeonghan says, “Don’t ask questions, you’ll see when it happens” he adds quickly after seeing Joshua’s distraught look.

 

“Okay… but what song do I change it to?” 

 

“I’ll whisper it to you in a moment, just stand by the machine to be ready to change it”

 

“Okay, fine, but you’ll regret this when you’re sober, you know that?” Joshua mutters.

 

They stroll over to where everyone had gathered, Seungcheol sitting on the couch, front and centre, grinning.

 

Jeonghan and Joshua walk over to the machine and pick a song. Just before they press play, Jeonghan whispers the song he wants to switch to, to Joshua. His eyes widen but he nods to show he understands and steps back so he’s just beside the machine. 

 

Jeonghan grabs the mic as the music starts to play, nodding his head to the melody. He brings the mic up to his lips and begins singing, closing his eyes to concentrate. As promised, he dedicates the song to Seungcheol by switching some words and saying “Seungcheol” instead, which receives some surprised faces and laughter. 

 

He almost forgets about his plan as he slips into the song and pours everything he has into his singing. Just in time though, he snaps out of his state and glances at Joshua who changes the song as requested. A sultry, sexy song starts playing and Jeonghan starts dancing to the intro music, trying not to laugh at himself and the countless shocked faces around the room. 

 

Seungcheol’s face, in particular, is priceless and Jeonghan wishes he could take a picture as he begins to sing once again, this time with a whole different aura. He dances around, doing his best to keep a sultry look on his face and continually making eye contact with Seungcheol, who is still incredibly surprised. 

 

As the chorus starts and everyone starts singing along, cheering and whistling, Jeonghan walks over to Seungcheol and sits on his lap bridal style, with his arm slung around his neck, still singing the lyrics in his breathiest voice possible. Seungcheol stays stiff as a board as Jeonghan runs his fingers through his hair and forces eye contact. Getting sick of being ignored, Jeonghan swings one of his legs over so he’s straddling him and grabs his chin. 

 

More than anything, everyone is laughing at Seungcheols reaction to the whole ordeal. He’s sitting back on the couch trying not to smile and avoiding eye contact. 

 

The instrumental portion of the song comes on and Jeonghan ditches the mic next to him and grabs Cheol’s face with two hands, pulling him closer and closer to his face as everyone around them screeches with shock and excitement. Seungcheol gulps and Jeonghan smirks.

 

“I don’t think Cheol’s gonna be straight after this!” Soonyoung shrieks, causing Jeonghan to burst out laughing and collapse on Seungcheol. He recomposes himself immediately and returns to looking at Seungcheol sensually, causing everyone to laugh harder at his complete 180 change. Everyone except Seungcheol, that is. Jeonghan leans in and wraps his arms around Seungcheols neck, tilting his head towards his ear. Jeonghan would be lying if he said he wasn’t incredibly hammered.

 

“You wanna get out of here?” he whispers, his hot breath escaping him like steam.

 

Seungcheols breath hitches and Jeonghan feels accomplished, even more so when he leans back and sees his bright red face which he tries to cover with his hands. Jeonghan is about to give him mercy and end the song by the karaoke machine, but before he can even move, Seungcheol pushes him off gently to the side and walks off to the bathroom without a word, eyes wide and face beetroot red. Almost everyone is on the floor, tears coming out of their eyes as they try to catch their breath. The more sane ones high-five Jeonghan and pat him on the back. 

 

“Why did he bail? The song was almost over anyway,” Seokmin wonders out loud as the bathroom door shuts and locks.

 

Seungcheol leans against the closed door and slides down until he’s sitting with his knees tucked under his chin.

 

‘ _That could’ve been bad’_ Seungcheol thinks as he stretches his legs out and glances at his crotch, cringing when he sees how tight his pant have gotten. ‘ _I know I don’t like guys so what’s going on? He was just sitting on me… and moving around… and whispering…’_ Seungcheol shakes his head to get rid of any thoughts of what just happened. 

 

He stands up, goes over to the basin and turns on the tap. Eventually, after splashing his face until it’s numb, he feels much better. The tightness in his pants is gone and he breathes a sigh of relief before stepping out and speed-walking to the kitchen. 

 

Jeonghan spots him and waves him over to his conversation with Soonyoung and Seokmin. Seungcheol pouts at him jokingly and pours himself some shots, before downing them all in record time. He pours four more and carries them over to the conversing group with Jeonghan, hoping he and everyone else will drink enough to forget this happened. He hands out the shots and they all take them in quick succession. 

 

“How're you holding up?” Seungcheol asks as Jeonghan trips over his own feet slightly.

 

“In regard to what? Drinking? I’m doing great! Never felt better! What about you?” Jeonghan exclaims, swaying on the spot a little.

 

“Just fine,” Seungcheol replies with a cheeky smile. His smile evaporates though, as Seokmin asks the dreaded question he’d been hoping no one would ask.

 

“Why’d you leave before? When you went to the bathroom?” 

 

“Uhhh you know, nature called.”

 

“Such an _inconvenient_ time for it to have called, huh Jeonghan?” Soonyoung says, elbowing Jeonghan and Seokmin.

 

“Well, that’s what happened, so shut up” Seungcheol snaps.

 

“Hey, I’m just playing! You okay though? You’ve had quite a bit to drink tonight, both of you actually. Jeonghan doesn’t usually drink this much, what’s going on?” Soonyoung asks.

 

Seungcheol sighs apologetically, “We made a bet in class to see who would be able to drink more”

 

“Yep, and I’m winning!” Jeonghan grins, throwing an arm around Seungcheol.

 

“Sure…” Seungcheol says rolling his eyes.

 

“Well, the party’s dying down a bit now, can you take Jeonghan home? I’d ask Seungkwan but he left already with Hansol” Seokmin asks, pleading with his eyes.

 

“Ugh fine, give me the address, I have a horrible memory” Seungcheol replies, handing Seokmin his phone.

 

Seokmin typed in the address and hands the phone back “Thank you so much, I owe you one”

 

“Don’t worry about it” Seungcheol says, dragging Jeonghan across the dance floor and to the front door.

 

He spots Mingyu and waves him goodbye, shouting happy birthday over the loud music and exiting with Jeonghan. They step into the elevator again and press the ground floor button. Jeonghan is still grinning giddily and Seungcheol is just trying to keep him from falling over. ‘ _How did he manage to get this affected by alcohol in such a short time?’_ Seungcheol thinks.

 

As soon as they step outside the elevator, Jeonghan unhooks himself from around Seungcheols shoulders and stands up straight, adjusting his shirt and brushing back his hair. “Thanks for giving me a ride by the way _,”_ Jeonghan says, in an almost normal voice. Seungcheol would’ve thought he was sober if he hadn’t immediately giggled and tripped over right after.

 

“It’s no biggie. But you do owe me one for doing this rap gig for you” Seungcheol insists.

 

“Yeah, yeah just get me home, I’m tired” Jeonghan whines, stumbling off towards the carpark, an alarmed Seungcheol following him.

 

“What happened to being able to handle your liquor?” Seungcheol mumbles to himself, annoyed at having to take this mess home.

 

They get to Seungcheols car, he unlocks it and they get in. “Somehow I doubt you’ll remember anything tomorrow,” Seungcheol states, starting the car.

 

“Probably not, but it was kinda fun, not gonna lie” Jeonghan shrugs.

 

“Weirdo” Seungcheol mutters and Jeonghan chuckles.

 

“Says you” Jeonghan retorts.

 

“Wow, some comeback” Seungcheol teases, exiting the apartment block car park and driving along the road at a steady pace.

 

“I have my reasons”

 

“What? For calling me a weirdo? You literally gave me a lap dance, who are you calling a weirdo?”

 

“That’s just it, isn’t it? I wasn’t going to say anything because I’m a nice human being, but that’s gone out the window so here. I think you like me” Jeonghan says, hiccuping.

 

Seungcheol almost slams the breaks in shock but keeps his cool and continues, going slightly faster than before. “I think you’re imagining things, I’m ‘a dumb hetero’ remember?” Seungcheol replies calmly.

 

“Hey, I never said you weren’t. And it’s not like you’re just suddenly gay because I had my ass in your lap and you got all blush-y and flustered. It doesn’t work like that. It could happen to anyone,” Jeonghan giggles.

 

Seungcheol scoffs, “I wasn't even remotely bothered, don’t flatter yourself”.

 

“Whatever you say,” Jeonghan sighs, smirking and staring out the window.

 

They continue driving in silence until they reach Jeonghans house. “You’re still going to feature on my song though, right?” Jeonghan asks before stepping out of the car.

 

“After that stunt you pulled? I don’t know about that…” Seungcheol says, shaking his head.

 

“I’ll put it this way. If the answer isn’t yes, I’ll tell everyone that I made you blush just by whispering in your ear” Jeonghan says flatly, eyelids drooping.

 

Seungcheol tenses. “Geez, my answer was gonna be yes anyway. And would you stop with that? It wasn’t what you thought, I’m a dumb hetero and nothing you think is going to change that” he says, then sticks his tongue out.

 

Jeonghan laughs “Good to know. You just keep telling yourself that, straight boy” he cackles, stumbling down his driveway and entering his house as Seungcheol pulls onto the road and honks as he speeds away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o.O
> 
> how wildt. rip jeonghan lmao.
> 
> i know a few of you were waiting for the 'jeongcheol dare' so im sorry that didnt happen, but i hope this was ok instead????
> 
> next chapter will be a bit of a filler, sorry bout that too. but aFTER that................ is probably another filler-- im soRRY BUT IT has a cliffhanger(?) at least.
> 
> ofc comments are appreciated, much love!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan gets filled in on what happened The Night Before™ and seungkwan + soonyoung bully him for it.
> 
> also he finally tells jihoon the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall! my internet is being slow for some reason so i'll edit this chapter properly another time ^^
> 
> like i said before, this one is a bit of a filler but it does progress the story a bit so ehhh.
> 
> enjoy the chapter~~ and read end notes for an update if u want <3

Jeonghan wakes up with an immense headache, unable to open his stinging eyes. ‘ _I didn’t even drink that much, did I? I can’t remember past Mingyu’s dare game. Oh yeah, he made me do shots, that bitch’._

 

Jeonghan spends his Saturday recovering in bed. ‘ _I’ll have to ask Seungkwan if anything interesting happened’._ Jeonghan sends a text to Seungkwan.

 

 

**1004:** _yo what happened last night? don’t mention it to anyone but i cant remember much >:(_

 

 

No more than 2 minutes later he gets a reply.

 

 

**boo:** _BAHAHAHAHHA really???? just out of curiosity what DO you remember?_

 

Jeonghan groans. Obviously, something stupid happened and he’s annoyed at himself that he can’t recall what it was. He furiously types out a message, trying not to sound as though he has _absolutely no clue what the fuck happened_.

 

 

**1004:** _i remember some things… just tell me what tf happened so i can have some clarity!!!_

 

 

10 minutes pass and Jeonghan is considering strangling Seungkwan the next time he sees him. He’s even thinking of how he’ll hide his body, when he gets a reply.

 

 

**boo:** _ok ok i’ll tell u but don't freak out okay? it was really funny and every1 was real chill about it_

 

 

Jeonghan feels his throat close and suddenly it’s like he can’t breathe. 

 

 

**1004:** _jfc just tell me ur scaring me_

 

**boo:** _okay well to keep it brief, u basically gave seungcheol a lap dance…_

 

 

He feels lightheaded but continues to press Seungkwan

 

 

**1004:** _yeah,,,, how bad was it tho? i don’t remember details_

 

 

He’s lying, of course. He doesn’t remember giving him a fucking lap dance in the first place, let alone the ‘details’.

 

 

**boo:** _not even just saying this as a friend, but i think u were a stripper in ur past life. it was gr8_

 

 

Jeonghan groans again and leaves him on read as he flops back onto his pillow. Seungkwan could just be teasing him, but somehow it feels too real. Did he really? The sensible Jeonghan who is basically the mom of the group, surely he couldn’t have done something so heinous. And to Seungcheol of all people? His rapping was something Jeonghan didn’t forget, as well as the fact that he asked him to feature and he agreed. He could only hope that the lap dance didn’t deter Seungcheol. Weirdly he didn’t want any other voice in his song. He shrugs it off as himself being hasty but he can’t ignore Seungcheol’s talent. Jeonghan suddenly feels bad for leaving Seungkwan on read for no reason and grabs his phone again.

 

 

**1004:** _gee, thanks… how was seungcheol after that whole ordeal?_

 

**boo:** _he’s fine… also i told him u don't remember it_

 

**1004:** _YOU DID WHAT?? IT HASNT EVEN BEEN 20 MINUTES AND YOU’VE ALREADY TOLD THE ONE PERSON THAT I DIDNT WANT TO KNOW???_

 

**boo:** _hey chill !!! he just lol’d and said he’ll have to talk to you about a certain bet u guys made. what bet btw? he never said_

 

**1004:** _ughhh just some stupid loose bet we made in class. ‘who can drink more’ type bet._

 

**boo:** _and yoU’RE TELLING ME HE BEAT YOU?? that dude must drink alcohol like water or smth_

 

**1004:** _lmao i guess. do u happen to know how i got home btw?_

 

**boo:** _no?? i left w hansol b4 u so i wouldn't know. try asking literally anyone else, i left pretty early._

 

**1004:** _hansol eh? what did u guys get up 2 ????? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

 

**boo:** _pffft wouldn't u like 2 know u pervert. meet me at the park and i’ll fill u in on everything_

 

**1004:** _yh okay i’ll c u there. is hansol coming too? cos i don't rlly wanna 3rd wheel…_

 

**boo:** _no you shit i sent his ass home quick. I'm calling soonyoung to come tho, i wanna know what happened after we left._

 

**1004:** _alright see u there_

 

 

Jeonghan switches his phone off and pulls on a hoodie and sweats. He’s feeling much better, Seungkwan always puts him in a good mood, even when they’re just texting. Grabbing an apple on the way out, he jogs over to the park a block away from his place. It’s about five o’clock when he arrives and collapses on a park bench by a pond to wait for the two while playing games on his phone. 

 

He spots them strolling on the other side of the pond and calls them over. They give him a couple smiles and casually make their way over, plonking themselves on the bench next to him. Judging by Seungkwans sunglasses and Soonyoung’s extremely pale face, Jeonghan isn’t suffering alone. Seungkwan confirms this by pulling his sunnies up to reveal his swollen and bloodshot eyes. 

 

“I assume Seungkwan has filled you in?” Jeonghan asks, his throat feeling a bit scratchy from the unwarranted exercise of jogging just 7 minutes down the street.

 

“You bet, I’m the only one here that knows what happened after you both left, too” Soonyoung grins.

 

“Oh god, what did our psychotic friends do this time?” Seungkwan asks, rolling his eyes.

 

“Not much really, but what I haven't told Seungkwan yet, is what happened just after he left, when _you_ were still at the party,” Soonyoung tells Jeonghan, revealing a smirk.

 

Jeonghans eyes widen, “Soonyoung, I swear to god, tell me before you tell him”

 

“Nooo, I have a right to know too!” Seungkwan whines, a sly smile making itself present on his face.

 

Soonyoung laughs, slapping his knee at Jeonghans look of desperation, “I’m sure it’s nothing, just a few people at the party probably got the wrong impression” he explains.

 

Jeonghan settles down a bit, still slightly on edge, “Okay, continue” he murmurs.

 

Seungkwan pats him on the back and turns to Soonyoung, all ears.

 

“A while after Seungkwan left with _Hansol”_ Soonyoung stops to raise an eyebrow at Seungkwan who just shrugs and says, “I’ll tell you in a minute”.

 

“Right, so after Seungkwan left, Jeonghan was pretty drunk and was just kind of floating around the place so he started chatting with Seokmin, Seungcheol and I, and then long story short, he left with Seungcheol.” Soonyoung blabs.

 

Seungkwan squeals and starts poking Jeonghan who is frozen with fear.

 

“And you said people got the wrong idea? What does that mean, exactly?” Jeonghan asks frantically.

 

“Just that a couple of our friends thought Seungcheol was ‘ _taking you home_ ’ in a different way if you catch my drift” Soonyoung shrugs.

 

“Oh god, please tell me you told them what actually happened.” Jeonghan shouts, then pauses. “What did actually happen?” he wonders out loud.

 

“Seokmin asked him to take you home because you were too drunk and he was worried about you. As for _after_ you left, only one person can tell you that” Soonyoung says wiggling his eyebrows and receiving hard laughter from Seungkwan.

 

Jeonghan groans and rolls his eyes, focusing on some ducks waddling past and trying to ignore Seungkwan wiping his tears of laughter away.

 

“Please ask Seungcheol what happened, you know I can’t do it” Jeonghan pleads.

 

Seungkwan stops and immediately pulls out his phone, sending a message to Seungcheol

 

 

**seungkwan:** _heyyy seungcheol, just wondering for no reason, what happened after u n jeonghan left last night?_

 

 

“And now we wait” he says, clicking his phone off and smiling.

 

No sooner had he said that, the trio hear a distinctive and customised ‘ding’ from Seungkwans phone. He opens the message and shows it to Jeonghan before even reading it himself.

 

 

**seungcheol:** _we talked in the car and i dropped him home then went home myself :)_

 

 

“There you go” Seungkwan says after reading the message and showing it to Soonyoung.

 

Jeonghan sighs with relief but then panic kicks in again.

 

“What if I said something stupid in the car?” he gasps.

 

“Oh my god, shut up Jeonghan, even if you did, why would you care?” Seungkwan says, clearly done with Jeonghans panicking.

 

“Yeah… True, but I still don’t want my reputation tarnished. Who knows what he’s capable of? What if he blackmails me for giving him a lap dance?”

 

Soonyoung bursts out laughing and Seungkwan chuckles along. “I think you’ll be fine. Who is a straight boy going to tell about a gay guy giving him a lap dance? Honestly, you have more blackmail material than him” Soonyoung chokes out.

 

Jeonghan blushes, really not used to hearing other people talk about the fact that he gave someone a lap dance. “Okay I guess, but you still haven’t told us what happened after I left” he says

 

“Oh yeah, not much happened really, Mingyu and Wonwoo made out which made like four girls cry” Soonyoung shrugs.

 

“Jesus fucking christ, are straight girls really that affected by us gays?” Seungkwan gasps, holding a hand to his chest dramatically.

 

Soonyoung snorts. “Us? I think you mean just you two, I’m straighter than Chan’s grades”

 

Seungkwan and Jeonghan give each other confused looks.

 

“He gets straight A’s… it was a pun” Soonyoung explains flatly.

 

They both roll their eyes and Soonyoung grins, painfully proud of his joke. 

 

“You can’t make straight jokes when you’re bi, Soonyoung, that’s not how it works,” Seungkwan groans.

 

“I’m gonna go home, I need to mentally recover fully before I can face his stupid humour” Jeonghan says, getting up from the bench. Seungkwan and Soonyoung follow suit.

 

“Yeah good point, I’m gonna get going too” Seungkwan says.

 

“Alright well see you guys later then yeah? Soonyoung confirms, waving his friends off before turning to head in the opposite direction.

 

“Wait, Seungkwan!” Jeonghan yells as Seungkwan makes his way across the grass to his house. He spins around and raises his eyebrows expectantly.

 

“You never told us what happened with Hansol”

 

“Oh yeah, that, well uh, we had a sleepover” Seungkwan says, quickly spinning back around and speeding off, leaving Jeonghan and Soonyoung blinking at his retreating behind.

 

“Wonder what he means by ‘sleepover’” Soonyoung hums, “Uh, I guess bye again?”

 

Too drained to do anything else, Jeonghan just sighs, nods and starts walking home. By the time he gets home it’s about dinner time, so he heats up some leftovers and eats it in his room. He texts Jihoon about having found a rapper and gets a swift reply, much to his delight.

 

 

**jeonghan:** _I FINALLY FOUND A RAPPER he’s talented, i’m sure you’ll be impressed!!_

 

**woozi:** _thats great news!! it takes a lot to impress me tho… bring him in ASAP! i’m free from 4pm tmrrw if thats cool with you?_

 

**jeonghan:** _you got it! we’ll be there. keep in mind tho we aren't that close… idk how this’ll go_

 

**woozi:** _it’s fine dw about it, i’ll see u tomorrow_

 

 

Jeonghan jumps out of his seat at his desk in joy, knocking his bowl over and spilling some food on his work. He couldn’t care less though, as he’s finally another step closer to finishing the song. Before he gets too excited he remembers that he actually needs to check with Seungcheol to make sure that’s okay. Jeonghan sighs and opens his messaging app once again.

 

 

**jeonghan:** _hey are you free tomorrow at around 4pm?_

 

**seungcheol:** _maaaaybe, what’s this for?_

 

**jeonghan:** _my producer friend i told u about wants to meet you and i told him i’d take u at 4_

 

**seungcheol:** _gee well thanks for checking in to see if i was even avaILABLE_

 

**jeonghan:** _yeah yeah sorry and whatever, but you’ll come right?_

 

**seungcheol:** _duhh!! it’s not like i have a choice…_

 

**jeonghan:** _thanks!! but wdym u don't have a choice ?????_

 

**seungcheol:** _last night,,,, u told me if i didn't agree to do this for u, u’d spread rumours about me.._

 

**jeonghan:** _I DID WHAT???? PLEASE DONT TAKE ANYTHING I SAID SRSLY i was hammered…_

 

**seungcheol:** _yh no shit huh? btw give me the address for the producers studio for tmrrw_

 

**jeonghan:** _yeh, about that… i was kinda hoping u could swing by and pick me up and take us there bc i don't have a car :(:_

 

**seungcheol:** _ughhhhh ur so high maintenance, whatever, see u tmrrrw evening then_

 

**jeonghan:** _yep see ya_

 

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jeonghan finally lets himself get ready for bed and go to sleep, thinking of nothing else but what (chaos) tomorrow will bring him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwwwooo thanks for reading~~
> 
> next chapter will be another filler but the one FOLLOWING that will be Wild. im pretty sure. like thats where the angst starts. it'll be a two-parter bc it's too long but it doesnt make sense to cut it off properly as completely separate chapters.
> 
> ALSO, i have about 7 or 8 chapters left before i catch up to where i left off (ive pre-written this whole thing for about 16 chapters), which means after that, updates will be slower :((
> 
> THANKS AGAIN AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED AS AWAYS, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan has some time to kill before he meets up with cheol and jihoon.
> 
> so as any (in)sane person would do, he calls up his buds to hang out.
> 
> but (unfortunately), they don't always leave right when he tells them to.
> 
> it gets messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyy sorry this is late, i didn't realise until JUST NOW but im here at least..
> 
> which also means it's gross n unedited but forgive me bc it's ACTUALLY 4:29am rn and i'm barely conscious woooo
> 
>  
> 
> as always, thanks for reading~~ enjoy this slight filler :***

Jeonghan wakes up surprisingly early for someone of his lazy sloth-like nature. Early for Jeonghan is 10 am, of course. The sun is shining through the exposed windows as he strolls into the kitchen to make himself a quick breakfast of toast. He grabs his laptop from his room and goes back out to the lounge room, throwing himself onto the couch. Inhaling his toast, he checks his social media as usual, quickly becoming bored with the lack of drama on his timeline. Huffing a sigh of boredom, he messages Jun.

 

 

**1004:** _yo hoe whatchu up 2?? I'm bored n free until like 4 pls save me_

 

 

Jeonghan gets up to go shower, not that he needs to, he’s just that bored. As he’s walking off he hears a ding from his laptop. He slides back to the living room on his polished wood floors, almost tripping in the process to check the message;

 

 

**july:** _wouldn't u like to know? ok yh I'm free i’ll be over soon aND i’m bringing wonu who may-or-may-not be bringing gyu w him_

 

**1004:** _whatever just get ur asses over here iM BoRED_

 

 

Jeonghan replies quickly then sprints to the bathroom to shower, because even though he soon _won’t_ be bored, he likes to be presentable. No sooner had he stepped out, ruffling his wet hair with a towel, the doorbell sounds. He jogs to the door and swings it open, only to be greeted by a gust of wind. Jeonghans face scrunches up into a puzzled expression at the lack of, well, human, at his door. He steps further out of his doorway and a car parked to the left, previously just out of his eye-sight, appears. Out of the passenger window he spots Mingyu waving wildly, grinning from ear to ear. When they make eye contact, Mingyu motions for Jeonghan to get his ass in the car.

 

“Gimme a sec” Jeonghan shouts before stepping inside and closing his door.

 

He dries his hair with a towel a bit more, pulls on his sneakers and grabs his phone, stopping once at the mirror by the door before exiting and pulling the door shut behind him. Walking at a brisk pace he reaches the car and opens the back door to Jun grinning at him. Flopping down into his seat and shutting the door, he greets Wonwoo in the driver's seat, Mingyu riding shotgun and Jun next to him. 

 

“Nice outfit, I see you really dressed up for us” Jun smirks, giving Jeonghan a once-over.

 

“Only the best for my lamest friends” Jeonghan sighs, looking down at his old oversized grey university hoodie that he got from his dad, as well his favourite black pair of Adidas sweatpants.

 

“Don’t worry we’re only going to a diner down the road” Mingyu smiles from the front. Jeonghan smiles back and as his eyes trail down he notices Mingyu's hand resting on Wonwoo's thigh as he drives. He looks back at Junhui and points silently at Mingyu's hand. Jun just shrugs and goes back to texting on his phone. Jeonghan leans back into his seat and discreetly leans to the side a bit to see who Jun is texting. ‘future boyfriend’ is at the top of the screen and Jeonghan fails at stifling a laugh as he returns to his normal state, staring straight ahead. 

 

“What’s so funny?” Wonwoo says, looking in the rearview mirror at Jeonghan

 

“Jun… has someone saved as ‘future husband’ on his phone” Jeonghan chokes out, finally giving in to his laughter.

 

“What?!” Mingyu coughs, Wonwoo almost starts crying laughing beside him.

 

“Hey, it’s only because I know it’s gonna happen,” Jun says, smacking Jeonghans forehead.

 

“Well, who is it?” Jeonghan teases.

 

“You really think I’m going to tell you?”

 

“Yes, because if you don’t I’ll tell everyone about what happened that one time we went to Love Land in Jeju and y—“

 

“Okay, okay, I thought you said you wouldn’t mention that anymore, you prick,” Jun says frantically.

 

“What the fuck happened at Love Land?” Wonwoo asks, squinting his eyes.

 

“So anyway, the person is Minghao, Mingyu’s friend” Jun admits, shaking his head.

 

“Actually that’s _best_ friend and WAIT, what the fuck, how?” Mingyu gasps.

 

“Another time perhaps friends, that’s the diner on the right, and I have something _I_ want to talk about” Jun says, locking his phone with an eyebrow raise directed at Jeonghan. Lovely.

 

Wonwoo pulls up into the carpark and the four of them enter into a gross 80s themed diner. They sit down at a booth near the front window, Mingyu and Wonwoo sitting down next to each other with Jun and Jeonghan facing them. Jeonghan doesn't miss Mingyu lacing his fingers with Wonwoo’s under the table as they sit. 

 

“Right, so, what’s so important that you waited until we got here to say,” Wonwoo says, picking up his menu and handing one to Mingyu. 

 

“Strangely everyone just seemed to forget what the fuck happened at your party, Gyu,” Jun says, oh-so-mysteriously. 

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, getting the feeling he knows where this is going. Luckily for him, a waitress comes over to take their orders. They all order burgers and drinks except for Jeonghan, who just orders chips.

 

“Like I was saying, your party was great but somehow no one except a select few even remotely remember the fact that Jeonghan gave Seungcheol a lap dance. I mean, I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty historic moment in my opinion” Jun says, smiling slyly as he watches Jeonghan face palm next to him.

 

“Of course I remember that, it was fucking hilarious! But, why are you bringing it up?” Mingyu asks.

 

“I just like making Jeonghan suffer to be quite honest. Hey, I remember you whispering to Seungcheol, Jeonghan what’d you say?” Jun grins.

 

Jeonghan tries to remember but the memory of that night is completely deformed and hazy.

 

“Don’t remember” he says simply, shrugging.

 

“Bullshit” Jun scoffs, as the waitress brings over their drinks.

 

“Seriously! You’re better off asking him if you really want to know. I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten, it must’ve been pretty traumatic”

 

Jun chuckles and his eyes light up as a different waitress brings over their food. They all dig in, Jeonghan shoveling chips into his face 4 at a time and the rest inhaling their burgers. In no time at all they’re finished, sipping meekly on their drinks, too full to function.

 

“Can we go back to Jeonghans house and play games?” Mingyu asks, getting out his wallet to pay for the four of them.

 

“Yeah that’s fine but you guys have to leave before 4 o’clock” Jeonghan says, standing up and finishing off his drink.

 

“What’s happening at four?” Wonwoo asks skeptically.

 

For some reason, Jeonghan doesn't really want to tell them that he’s meeting up with Seungcheol. He knows they’ll over-react and assume things so what’s the point? As he seems to do best nowadays, Jeonghan comes up with an excuse.

 

“Don’t worry about it, just remember that when we get there” Jeonghan sighs, walking out the door to the car while he waits for the rest to finish up paying.

 

The drive back was relatively silent, except for Jun watching vine compilations on his phone, muttering about how annoyed he is that they shut it down. They arrive back in no time and Jun dives onto the couch as Mingyu steps into the kitchen with Jeonghan to fix drinks and Wonwoo sets up the PlayStation. Per Mingyu’s request, they end up playing Mario Kart for hours on end, and before they know it it’s already quarter to four. Jeonghan is getting blatantly antsy, constantly checking the time and suggesting that ‘this will be the last game’. Said game ends with Mingyu winning first place and Jun coming in at a close and furious second.

 

“Thanks for coming and keeping me company today guys, it’s been so fun and I had a blast, Mingyu thanks for paying at the diner that was really sweet of you, but it’s time for you all to get the hell out” Jeonghan blurts, “Please” he adds as an after-thought.

 

“Damn you were pretty serious about us leaving before four, huh?” Wonwoo deadpans.

 

“You bet, now put your cups in the sink and kindly get the fuck out” Jeonghan smiles sweetly.

 

There’s a loud protest of groans from the three guests but they do as they’re told. Just as they all head to the entry, there’s a knock at the front door. Jun smirks at Jeonghan and runs the short distance to the door, swinging it open despite Jeonghans horrified screams not to. Standing there, as expected, is Choi Seungcheol. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo thanks 4 reading friensd
> 
> i apOLOGISE for that weird cliffhanger at the end, i feel like i'm writing a damn soap opera with how that ended but it's getting harder to separate it all into chapters for some reason ????
> 
> i'm currently planning the rest of the story so i don't freak the fuck out when i catch up w the writing sooooo that's development (!!)
> 
>  (lmao almost forgot, there was a hint of junhao in this which i totally missed when i re-read this so i can keep it implied, which may end up happening anyway just bc i'm focusing the most on coups n han)
> 
> thank u again, comments are ADORED IN THIS HOUSE and feel free to yell at me if i don't get the next one up in time bc i need to learn these things. <3 <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cheol and jeonghan head over to jihoon's. and maybe jihoon confesses something that he should've kept to himself, for the sake of jeonghan's sanity. oh well, it was wearing thin anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello welcome to another installment of 'writer updates fic at 4am without proof-reading!!'.
> 
> i hate this show.
> 
> ANYWAY this is part 1 and part 2 should be going up soon after that, maybe tomorrow or in a couple days?? i have no clue.

Wonwoo joins Jun in smirking and Mingyu just grins widely before greeting his friend at the door. 

 

“Are these three coming with us too?” Seungcheol asks, looking past the smug faces at Jeonghan.

 

Jun also looks at Jeonghan, eyebrows raised. “Going somewhere, are you?” Jun asks obnoxiously.

 

“Uh, actually… um—“ Seungcheol stutters, only making the situation worse.

 

“Everyone shut the fuck up and get out” Jeonghan grumbles, shoving everyone out of his entryway, grabbing his keys from the sideboard, before stepping out and shutting the door behind him.

 

“So… where are you going?” Mingyu asks rather innocently, and Jeonghan suddenly feels like he’d be more comfortable telling this 6ft tall puppy about it than his two long-term best friends.

 

“Don’t worry about it” Jeonghan almost coos. No wonder Wonwoo was so infatuated with this giant, he’s adorable.

 

“Hey, why can’t you tell us?” Jun asks, eyes narrowing

 

“Because it’s none of your business” Jeonghan hisses back. Honestly telling them the truth would be so much easier than just letting them assume their own things but he’s too far into this to crack now.

 

“We’re leaving now so I suggest you do the same,” Jeonghan says calmly, mainly to Mingyu, as he grabs Seungcheol's bicep and drags him back to his car. ‘ _He must work out’_ Jeonghan finds himself thinking as he lets go of Seungcheol and gets into the passenger seat of Seungcheol's car. The trio of guests drag their legs over to Wonwoo's car and get in. Wonwoo honks at them as he pulls away from Jeonghans house and speeds off down the road. Jeonghan sighs in relief then turns to look at Seungcheol who is giving him a _look_ , with one eyebrow raised.

 

“That was so over the top?” Seungcheol questions rather than states. 

 

Jeonghan shrugs sheepishly. He tells him the address for the studio and they roll down the road in silence. Feeling a bit bad at his outburst, Jeonghan texts Jun and Wonwoo a quick ‘I’ll tell you later, sorry’. Putting his phone away, Jeonghan realises this is the first time he and Seungcheol have spoken in person since the party, since _the drunk incident_ happened. Thinking back, Jeonghan also realises that Seungcheol thinks he doesn't remember what happened at all. Initially he thought of this as bad, but maybe it could work in his favour. At least he wouldn't feel pressured to bring it up. Jeonghan is beginning to feel better about his situation when Seungcheol just has to open his stupid mouth.

 

“So, uh… do you really not remember what happened at the party or was Seungkwan lying?”

 

Jeonghan's breath hitches. He coughs before answering, “I— uh, remember some things, only what others have told me” 

 

“Hmm” Seungcheol hums, deep in thought. “I take it you’ve been informed of what you did to me then?”

 

Jeonghan's eyes widen and his mouth goes dry. ‘ _Is he mad?’_ he thinks, looking at Seungcheol's expressionless face and biting his lip. “Yeah… I got told about that and the fact that you drove me home. But that’s all I know. To be honest I don’t quite know what happened…” Jeonghan pauses as he feels the heat rising up his neck and covering his cheeks. 

 

“Do you… want me to tell you?” Seungcheol asks, suddenly shy, with a tone Jeonghan certainly doesn't remember ever hearing from the boy.

 

“No!” Jeonghan says quickly. He doesn’t really want to have to hear his own shame out loud but at the same time, he’s immensely curious. “Okay maybe just a few details”

 

Seungcheol inhales and exhales deeply before speaking up “Right, to put it simply, I asked you to sing a song so I could tell whether you were good at singing or not, and I kind of said that if you didn't then I wouldn’t feature on your song, so it was all for the sake of me featuring on your song of course” Seungcheol stops to grin at Jeonghan who suppresses a smile back.

 

“Yeah that makes sense, continue” Jeonghan murmurs.

 

“So you go and start singing a _really_ beautiful ballad, like wow, I thought I was listening to an angel sing for a moment there,” Seungcheol says, recalling the memory with a soft smile as he speaks. He doesn't notice Jeonghans flaming red blush making itself present on his cheeks. 

 

“And then halfway through, the song changed… it changed into, well, a sensual song that I was just completely not ready for to be quite honest” Seungcheols smile drops and his eyes widen a little as he remembers the sequence that followed. Jeonghan is barely breathing at this point, holding his breath waiting to hear what Seungcheol says next. “You started singing and dancing along to that song, which was all well and good, I mean you still sounded great singing that too. But then you walk over to me, innocently sitting on the couch, and you kind of give me a lap dance?” he finishes, scratching the back of his head as Jeonghan slides down his seat, groaning in remorse.

 

“I’m sorry about that, I mean usually I’m pretty good with alcohol but I guess I just had a bit _too_ much huh?” Jeonghan sighs.

 

“Is this the place?” Seungcheol asks instead of answering, pointing to a tall building just in front of the car.

 

“Yep, that’s the place” Jeonghan chirps, spirit picking up within seconds as he remembers what he’s there for. A whole ass consultation about a song that _he_ wrote and will soon co-produce. Jeonghan gets out of the car excitedly before it even fully stops and runs to the entrance, buzzing the bell to be let in. Seungcheol gets out of the car and follows suit, standing next to him expectantly. The door opens and they climb the stairs to Jihoon's apartment. Jeonghan knocks on the door to be polite, despite Jihoon knowing fully well that they’re there.

 

“Come in!” Jihoon yells from inside and Jeonghan pushes the door open.

 

Jihoon swivels around on his office chair and grins at them. As soon as his eyes land on Seungcheol his jaw visibly drops.

 

“Seungcheol?” Jihoon shrieks, causing Jeonghan to blink dumbly and look at the two in confusion.

 

“Holy shit, Jihoon,” Seungcheol says under his breath.

 

“Wait, do you two know each other?” Jeonghan asks dumbfounded as Jihoon gives them both quick side-hugs.

 

“Yes, of course! Seungcheol was actually the rapper I was going to get for you if you didn’t end up finding anyone” Jihoon explains.

 

Jeonghan's eyes almost pop out of his head as he stands fuming next to Seungcheol.

 

“You mean to tell me, that I gave Seungcheol a fucking lap dance to get him to come here, yet he would've been here anyway!?” Jeonghan yells, curling his hands into fists.

 

“Wait, you did what?” Jihoon sputters, choking on a laugh. Seungcheol looks away, embarrassed, and goes and sits on one of the beanbags in the corner. He swallows hard and looks around to distract himself.

 

“Look it’s a long story” Jeonghan sighs, noticing Seungcheols discomfort and actually finding himself giving a damn, “Can we just get this meeting started?”

 

Jihoon coughs and pats his chest, “Yeah sure no problem, go ahead and sit down”

 

The consultation lasts for almost 2 hours as they discuss the song and what they’d like to do with it. Jihoon pulls up an earlier composition of his own (that he’d sent to Jeonghan a few days prior)to fit with the lyrics and Jeonghan runs through the song with them both. Seungcheol tells them he’s already got some rap lyrics on the back burner and eventually, near the end, they decide to start the whole recording process next week after school.

 

“Thanks for seeing us, Jihoon” Jeonghan smiles, pushing Seungcheol out the door and following close behind him.

 

“No problem, just make sure you keep in touch with _each other_ as well as me. You’re in this together now so try to get along, okay?” Jihoon chuckles at the sight of Jeonghan glaring at Seungcheol who won’t budge from the doorway.

 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, we’ll sort it out,” Jeonghan says, giving Seungcheol a big shove, causing him to go stumbling down the hallway towards the elevator.

 

“I’m sure you will” Jihoon laughs and waves at the two as they get in the elevator.

 

They ride it down in silence and get back into Seungcheol's car.

 

“I’m hungry” Jeonghan whines once they both have their seat-belts on.

 

“Same” Seungcheol murmurs distractedly, adjusting his rearview mirror.

 

“Wanna go get McDonald's?”

 

Seungcheols eyes light up “Uh, fuck yes?” he says, turning on the car and driving out of the carpark within seconds.

 

“Dine in or take-away?” Seungcheol asks as they drive into the McDonalds lot.

 

“Take-away of course” Jeonghan exclaims like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it is.

 

Seungcheol shrugs and pulls up to the window. They order fries and burgers, Jeonghan suddenly craving them having passed up the opportunity earlier at the diner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey part 2 will be going up soon after this one i think but just quickly, to clarify: putting together a song is not always a LONG process, but it’s not this fast either. i sped it up a bit to kind of get to the ‘after’ of releasing the song, so i hope no one minds too much. ^^ 
> 
> thanks for reading, comment are appreciated :*


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's seungcheol's time to say something (or multiple things) he shouldn't. except this time the repercussions come ten fold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes this is the 2nd part. 
> 
> angst warning ahead (!!!!) nothing TOO huge, i think. depends what your angst tolerance is i think.
> 
> do enjoy, spoiler: seungcheol is an a$$.
> 
> but what's new :))))))
> 
>  
> 
> (IM KIDDING HE'S BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HIM USDFHG)

The drive to Jeonghans house is silent, just the sound of Jeonghan munching on fries from the bottom of the bag. Jeonghan notices Seungcheol is a bit on edge, as though he wants to say something but doesn’t; refuses to. 

 

“Are you okay?” Jeonghan asks, in-between handfuls of fries

 

Seungcheol huffs out a laugh but it sounds far from humorous. The younger boys eyebrows furrow as he looks at him. 

 

“I’ll take that as a no” 

 

Seungcheols eyes flit over to him and Jeonghan catches something in his eyes, but he can’t put a name to it. Guilt? Regret? ‘ _Maybe I’m over-reacting. Come to think of it I am way too observant, maybe I should look into that’_ he thinks. His thoughts are interrupted by Seungcheol clearing his throat. Jeonghan doesn't remember the drive back being this long. 

 

“Um… something’s been on my mind recently and it involves you and I don’t think its fair that I’m the only one thinking about it, and maybe I just need some reassurance or maybe I’m just being selfish, but all I know is that y—“ Seungcheol rambles only to be interrupted by Jeonghan.

 

“Wait, Seungcheol, holy fuck slow down. What is this about?” Jeonghan tries to ignore his increasing heartbeat as Seungcheol takes a shaky breath.

 

“It’s about the party…” he starts slowly

 

“We literally talked about this on the drive to Jihoon’s, what more is there to say?” Jeonghan finds himself getting annoyed at the constant reminder of his embarrassment.

 

“No, it’s something I haven’t mentioned yet… you actually knew about it that night but you seem to have forgotten or are really too kind to mention it”

 

Jeonghan racks his brain. ‘ _What was it? Something I knew about… Weirdly I do remember the song selection but somehow I doubt that’s it…’_ Seungcheol looks over at him, the supposed guilt replaced with hope. Jeonghan guesses it’s probably the hope that he won’t have to explain it himself. Unfortunately for him, Jeonghan is a recently discovered lightweight who apparently has terrible hangovers and does shit he shouldn’t.

 

“I haven't got a clue, sorry” Jeonghan still trying his best to sound unaffected

 

Seungcheol sighs. “Guess there’s no way around it then” he says as they stop at a stop light, looking into the younger’s eyes, his own had become glassy. Jeonghan averts his gaze and coughs. The tension is thick enough to cut, and both are fully prepared to physically try, had they been handed knives. 

 

“I don't _think_ I like guys…but something happened and now I’m not so sure…” Seungcheol pauses for a moment to process what he himself is confessing. Jeonghan purses his lips in thought, masking his extreme surprise in favour of being told more information. 

 

“That’s quite the statement… what made you think that?” Jeonghan asks with some not-so-well-hidden curiosity seeping out of his every word. The boy driving him home, the one whom he had been told on _many_ occasions of his hetero orientation, was now confessing his change of heart. The very same boy who, just a few weeks ago, wouldn’t have spared a glance at Jeonghan, let alone talk and revel in his own confusion. How did things become so different in such a short span of time? 

 

They’re at Jeonghans house by now, but he doesn't make a move to exit the car, and Seungcheol doesn't say anything of it. 

 

“It’s because of the party…” Seungcheol is deep in thought, clearly thinking over everything he’s saying before actually letting the words leave his mouth. “Its… well, it’s because of you, Jeonghan”. Jeonghan faces that all too common occurrence that comes as a consequence of being around Seungcheol recently, his already steadily beating heart accelerates and Jeonghan is worried if he can’t calm down, he’ll go into cardiac arrest.

 

“Wh-what did I… uh, why?” Jeonghan manages to sputter out a reply but he’s left with silence. When he meets Seungcheols gaze, the older’s eyes are distant and his hands are gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles are completely white and transparent, veins popping out of every possible inch of his skin. His knuckles, as white as paper, are a complete contrast to his face, burning so red, Jeonghan could swear he feels the heat radiating off the male.

 

“I’ve never felt this way about a guy before, so I don’t really know to be honest. But at that party, that’s when I realised, because when you were being stupid and drunk, dancing on me and whispering into my ear, I could've sworn I was almost turned on. Do you know how fucked up that is?” Seungcheol pauses to sigh and gulp. “It could just be petty hormones running wild, and I really hope thats the case, but if it’s not? I’m fucked” he runs a hand through his hair.

 

Jeonghan, who is sitting quietly while he explains, interrupts with a sigh. “I don’t get why you’re telling me this, Seungcheol. It seems to me you just want someone to tell you that you’re straight and there’s no way you could ever like guys because you’re ‘Choi Seungcheol, lady’s man’, but you’re not gonna hear that from me” Jeonghan spits coldly. “You call that fucked up, but what’s really fucked up is you ‘hoping’ you aren't gay.” He doesn't know why he feels so hostile all of a sudden but something about what Seungcheol is saying is getting him fucking pissed. _‘He hopes thats the case’? What the fuck? Is he yet to realise he’s talking to a real life gay man? I get that he’s just confused but there’s no need for his bullshit spiel of how shit it’d be for him if he realised he’s gay.’_

 

Seungcheol won’t shut up and it’s annoying the fuck out of Jeonghan, who’s _way_ too tired to be dealing with this right now. He’s not paying too much attention to the rambling but every now and then, Jeonghan hears some slightly homophobic slurs and rushed apologies which are always quick to follow. ‘ _He’s just digging himself a bigger hole the more he talks’._ A thought crosses Jeonghan’s mind and before he can really think too much about it, he puts his plan into action. Seungcheol is still rambling as Jeonghan sighs, leans over to the mess sitting next to him, and brings his lips up to the older’s ear, so close to brushing the shell with how close in proximity they are. 

 

“You’re being stupid and I’m gonna need you to shut the fuck up right now” Jeonghan whispers.

 

When he pulls away, Seungcheol’s eyes are wide and his mouth is shut tight.

“You wouldn't shut up” Jeonghan points out lazily as an excuse, to which Seungcheol just nods blankly. After a solid minute of silence, each waiting for the other to speak up, Jeonghan clears his throat.

 

“I’ll just get going then” the younger says, as he opens the car door. Seungcheol blinks a few times before seemingly snapping back into reality, nodding and croaking out a ‘yeah’. Jeonghan gives him an emotionless smile, lips pressed firmly together to form a crooked line, and shuts the door behind him. No sooner had the door closed with a thud, the car reverses out in record time, stopping once its parallel with the pavement. The pair make eye contact which is quickly broken as Seungcheol speeds off, leaving Jeonghan to revel in his repercussions.

 

‘ _Why the fuck is he like that?’_ is the last thought Jeonghan has as he curls up in bed to sleep. There’s no way he’ll survive the recordings next week. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow that was too much angst for me. to clear things up a bit, jeonghan was being a bit of a butt to seungcheol when he was clearly having a stressful Gay Awakening (even if he was being a bit homophobic) but jh couldn’t really sense that, all he really comprehended from the whole Gay Awakening speech was the bad stuff.. which is UNDERSTANDABLE bc he’s used to homophobes so sometimes its all he hears :’( so. 
> 
> tl;dr: seungcheol was bad for being homophobic, but it wasn’t really his true opinions, he’s just SUPER dumb and scared. so although jeonghan was right in that it was homophobic (ish), he probs could’ve toned it down a bit. but oh well. thanks 4 reading.
> 
>  
> 
> (reading it back, it's kind of painfully obvious to the reader bc lmao we all know cheol isn't str8, but jh is genuinely clueless so pls forgive him)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> joshua is the mediator and seungkwan has an (un)healthy obsession..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy im back to studying and exams and HEAVY WORKLOAD so i'll try n catch up but there might be a hiatus later on down the track.
> 
> this is a weird chapter, don't think about it too much.
> 
> ENJOYYYYYY

**Not** a morning goes by without Jeonghan finding himself not wanting to get up to go to school. However, he’s never wanted to stay in his bed more than today. Groaning, he somehow manages to pull himself together enough to get dressed, eat an apple, brush his teeth and walk out the front just in time to meet with Seungkwan. The initial atmosphere is awkward, as it dawns on the two that the last time they spoke, Seungkwan had just told him that he had a ‘sleepover’ with Hansol. They walk in silence for all of about 2 minutes before it gets to be too much and they end up engaging in a conversation like nothing had ever happened. Jeonghan made a mental note to ask more about what happened with Hansol later, but for now, he could settle with just knowing they were on safe terms. 

 

The walk to school drags on, with the both of them equally not wanting to arrive any sooner than they have to. Eventually, they get there, their usual group of friends all sitting at their usual table in their quad. Try as he might, Jeonghan can’t seem to ignore the fact that Seungcheols presence is missing. Relaying the night before in his head, he tried to think about whether he over-reacted. He tends to do that sometimes, quite often interpreting things in the wrong way. The conversation the two had replays in his head, and as he remembers what Seungcheol said that got him mad, he feels oddly justified. ‘ _So many of his friends are gay, why would it be a relief to him if he himself wasn’t? Unless perhaps his parents didn’t accept such a thing… But I’ve met his parents at the Parent - Teacher night before, they were so welcoming to me, even after they came to know I was gay. If not that, then what?’_ Jeonghan couldn't stop thinking about it. How the hell was he supposed to record a fucking song with this guy when he couldn't even clear his head of the negative connotations of him? ‘ _Just as he was starting to warm up to me, he goes and says something stupid. Why did I even bother with him?’_ As if on cue, just to interrupt Jeonghans thoughts, Seungcheol strolls past him and sits on the opposite end of the table. 

 

“You two seemed to be on pretty alright terms last time I checked, so why the fuck did you just look at him with murder in your eyes?” 

 

Soonyoung had leaned over to whisper in Jeonghans right ear, the latter never taking his eyes off the boy in question.

 

“We’ve never been on ‘alright terms’ or whatever the fuck you want to call it, we just occasionally tolerate each other,” Jeonghan shrugs, feeling a slight pang of guilt for swearing around his friends when he really never needs to.

 

“Yeah, I guess that’s true… it _was_ pretty weird seeing you being nice to him, even if it was literally just for a few hours,” Soonyoung half-smirks, half giggles. 

 

This weird combination that seemed impossible for anyone else to even comprehend comforts Jeonghan in a way, so he gives the giggling boy a soft smile and returns his glare at Seungcheol. To his surprise, his gaze is met and Seungcheol is staring right back at him. There’s less toxicity in the older’s eyes, but anyone would be able to tell there was fire behind them. Seungcheol jerks his head in a directional manner, as a signal to Jeonghan meaning ‘get up, we need to talk’. Jeonghan understands clearly but makes no move to leave his seat. Instead, he speaks up, startling the group that didn't get to witness the exchange.

 

“If you have something to say to me, you can just say it here and now” 

 

Jun raises an eyebrow at him, clearly confused at the harsh tone of the otherwise sweet boy. Seungcheol just rolls his eyes and sighs.

 

“This isn’t something that I feel as though the entirety of our group should know, Yoon” he drawls, losing patience and energy from the hostility that Jeonghan hasn't stopped radiating since last night. Jeonghan crosses his arms. Boy, could he be stubborn.

 

“Well, I’m not moving so if it's that important, you can tell me later. Or preferably not at all,” he says, sending a fake, sickly sweet smile Seungcheol’s way. The latter grunts in distaste as he gets up, causing his chair to scrape loudly across the concrete floor. 

 

“You don’t have to be such a dick, I haven't even done anything wrong,” he mutters as he walks away, leaving Jeonghan to scoff and shake his head in disbelief.

 

“Um, what the fuck was that about?”

 

Jeonghan turns his head and finds Wonwoo to be the owner of the voice.

 

He smiles sweetly once again in Wonwoos direction, “What do you mean?”

 

Jun butts in before Wonwoo can answer, “I know you literally hate each other with a passion and whatever, but normally you guys kind of keep that to yourselves and not even bother to start shit. What’s changed?”

 

“Uh—, nothing?” Jeonghan tries, but the uncertainty in his voice has all the table members giving him the same kind of look.

 

It’s not like Jeonghan can tell them what he was told. As much as he’d love to destroy the reputation of the person who makes his life somewhat of a living hell, he still has his morals. Plus he remembers when he was outed and how torturous it was to answer all those questions that he didn't even know the answers to himself. 

 

Seungkwan makes a point of swinging his head into Jeonghans field of view, blinking hard once, twice, before leaving his eyes wide open, staring at Jeonghan. ‘ _Such a drama queen…’_ Jeonghan thinks absentmindedly. After saying nothing, Seungkwan rolls his eyes (which only reinstates Jeonghan’s thoughts) and clears his throat.

 

“Hannie, don’t lie to me, I’ve known everything about you since you were riding bikes with training wheels. There’s something going on isn't there?”

 

Jeonghan bites his lip to suppress an inappropriately timed laugh that is threatening to spill out. How is he supposed to take this kid seriously when he has paste from his leftover kimchi smeared all over his mouth? He’s brought back to reality when someone taps him on the shoulder. Sighing, he turns around expecting it to be Seungcheol. Instead, he’s greeted with Joshua, who has his hands full with at least 5 tangerines in each hand. Confused, Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at him.

“Han, would y—“ Joshua looks like he’s prepared something to say but when he catches Jeonghan’s look he switches course. “Oh, these are for everyone, one second”

 

Jeonghan waits for Joshua to hand out all the tangerines to the group, watching Seungkwan coo at how lovely and thoughtful Joshua is, with clasped hands. Hansol gives his tangerine to Seungkwan, who receives it delightedly, giving Hansol a chaste peck on the cheek and transferring a smudge of paste to his cheek. The younger reddens but no one seems to notice, save Joshua who gives him a cheeky grin. Everyone turns their attention to their tangerines and eats them as Seungkwan begins to go into the long history of tangerines in Jeju-do. They’re all wildly confused, but grateful. Jeonghan turns to Joshua once again, having gotten distracted by the weird trance that everyone seems to be in after receiving the tangerines. 

 

Joshua speaks in a hushed tone to avoid grabbing attention, “Let’s go while they’re distracted”

 

Jeonghan can only nod and rise out of his seat silently, following Joshua as he leads the way to the other side of the quad, stopping under a low-hanging tree. 

 

“I can’t put this softly dude, that was super fucking weird” The older boy exhales.

 

“Yeah, it was… listen I just brought the tangerines because it’s Boo’s favourite and it’d be rude not to give some to the rest of the group”

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, “Why were you giving Seungkwan tangerines in the first place?”

 

“It was _clearly_ a well-devised distraction to get you out of there before they ripped you to pieces, you know first hand how much Seungkwan is obsessed with tangerines; they remind him of Jeju”

 

Nodding, Jeonghan reminisces about the time Seungkwan refused to speak to him for a month simply because Jeonghan threw out 3 tangerines. _‘They were_ rotten _, Seungkwan!!’_

 

“Hmmm, yes, very clever Shua” 

 

Joshua has a smug look on his face as he continues, “Anyway, the main reason I dragged you out of there is to talk about Seungcheol”

 

Jeonghan visibly grimaces at the name, “ _Seungcheol?”_

 

“Yes, _Seungcheol”_ Joshua mimics Jeonghan’s voice, “Care to tell me how the hell you expect to record a song with that kid when you can’t even have a civilized conversation?”

 

“I don’t know, we’ll figure something out, he might not even want to feature anymore…” Jeonghan mumbles, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

 

Sighing, Joshua squeezes his friend's shoulder. “I suggest you guys stop this and just makeup. I can almost hear Jihoon screaming at you two to get along…” he says playfully, holding his other hand up to his ear, as though Jihoon was in the quad with them, ready to kick some tail. Jeonghan fakes gasps and knocks the boy's hand off his shoulder, laughing.

 

“Would it make you feel better if I said I’d try?”

 

A soft smile makes its way onto Joshua’s face, “Sure, put it that way”

 

Jeonghan returns the smile and the two make their way back to the group, greeted by Seungkwan stuffing his face with tangerines he stole from everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo i hope it was ok??? it was a bit of a filler, but it had to happen so ehhhh.
> 
> the next chptr will be T I N Y so i'll post a long one right after it, i just have to get the spacing right or whatever. it annoys me.
> 
> if i had to describe the angst in this fic from start to finish, it's like:
> 
> ..........aaaaAAAAaaaa.........aAAAAAAa..................
> 
>  
> 
> if that makes sense. it makes sense to me. send help.
> 
> THANKS FOR READING YALL ARE SO NICE IN THE COMMENTS IT MAKES ME SO SOFT N AAAA AA /////^///^/////


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Tiny chapter that serves as a little gust of wind before the storm that is the next chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo yo yo, here take this 'just-under-700-words' chapter. sorry.
> 
> BUT bc it's so small (and ive already mentioned it),,,,, the PRRRRROPER chapter will go up tmrrw!!!
> 
> if i remember.
> 
> workload. its hard.
> 
> gl

It’s been two days since Seungcheol spoke to Jeonghan, the last time being the incident in the quad. The younger of the two sits in his room, having just arrived home from school, lounging around, being unproductive as usual. He’s too scared to talk to Jihoon, but he doesn't have time to contemplate his consequences. Jihoon just messaged him.

 

 

**jihoon:** _i thought you agreed we were going to start recording monday? what happened and why aren't you in my studio right now?_

 

 

Jeonghan bites his lip, trying to think of an acceptable reply.

 

 

**jeonghan** : _ah im sorry, something came up. when would you like us in?_

 

 

For the first time since this whole song-making process started, Jeonghan hopes that Jihoon is going to be unavailable for the next week. “Just my luck…” he mutters to himself upon seeing the follow-up message from the producer.

 

**jihoon:** _uh right the fuck now??? i dragged cheol’s ass in here so you better get yours here too before i come and get you myself._

 

Jeonghan sighs, “Such an aggressive little man”

 

**jeonghan** : _yep got it, be right there_

 

‘ _Now what? How am I supposed to get there?’._ Jeonghan walks out of his room and peeks into his mum's room. She isn’t home from work yet, ‘ _Well, there goes my ride’._ Slumping against a wall, Jeonghan opens up the phone app and rings Jihoon. It rings 4 times before someone picks up

 

“Jihoon”

 

“Who the hell answers the phone with just their name?”

 

“Jeonghan, is that you? You better be on your way over”

 

“Uhh about that… I don’t have a ride so I guess I can walk over but that might take a while…”

 

Jeonghan hears the shorter man snort on the other end of the line, “Lazy ass, I know how long it takes. Are you telling me none of your friends have licenses? What about Joshua?” 

 

“I mean I guess I could ask my friend Wonwoo…” 

 

“Great, go do that and get your ass over here quick smart” Jihoon hangs up and Jeonghan is left with silence on his end of the receiver. ‘ _Isn’t he the epitome of politeness?’._ Next, he rings Wonwoo.

 

“Oh god, what now”

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes at his friend's immediate response.

 

“Gee, Mingyu must be using up any piece of good you had left in you. How _does_ it feel to be such a husk of a human?” Jeonghan drawls sardonically. 

 

“Pretty great, actually. Now what do you want Jeonghan, I have homework to be doing”

 

“I’m going to assume ‘homework’ is a codeword for ‘Mingyu’ but that can wait anyway," Jeonghan hears Wonwoo cough dryly on the other side of the line, "I need a ride, like 10 minutes drive from my place. Think you can manage to be away from your man-candy for that long?”

 

“Aren’t you pleasant? Yeah whatever, I’ll be there in 5”

 

“Tell Mingyu I say hi!”

 

Jeonghan chuckles to himself as he hears the line go dead. Pulling himself off the ground, he dusts himself off and makes his way into the kitchen. It’s always so silent in his house but he doesn’t really notice till his friends come over. 

 

He grabs an apple and sits on the counter, munching away into the silence while waiting for his ride. Said ride comes sooner than expected when he hears a knock at the door. Jeonghan free-throws his apple core into the bin before strolling to the front door. The door opens before he can even get there and Wonwoo’s face pokes inside.

 

“Good to go?” the intruder asks, before pushing the door fully open.

 

Jeonghan pouts in thought for a moment before nodding and following Wonwoo out the door. He guesses Wonwoo wants to get back home as soon as possible. It’s not like he said it explicitly, but he sure didn’t deny the whole Mingyu thing, so he must be in a hurry.

 

“Where to?” 

 

Jeonghan pulls the address up on his phone and shows Wonwoo.

 

“That’s not even that far, lazy ass”

 

“Maybe, but there's no way I’m wasting my energy walking there… not when I don’t even want to go…” Jeonghan mumbles the latter half of the sentence, quiet enough that Wonwoo couldn't pick up on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> real chptr up tomorrow, sorry this one's tiny, tomorrow's is a HEFTY ONE. content wise n length wise.
> 
> thanks 4 sticking by this mess :')))))
> 
> <3 <3 <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan tests out one of newton’s laws in what is the most cliche scene I’ve written to date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello here is the hefty chapter, i hope yall prepared for dis shit.
> 
> also there’s some spicy stuff so viewer discretion is advised… NOT BEDROOM KIND OF THINGS YET BUT UHHHH I’m just trying to protect yall.
> 
> i only read through the second half so sorry for possible errors eeeeee
> 
> comment if you want to! <3

They arrive at the studio in just under 10 minutes, much to Wonwoo’s distaste.

 

“You could’ve walked here!” he yells out the window after dropping Jeonghan at the door of Jihoons apartment. The older boy shoots his driver a glare but quickly thanks him and waves as he drives off. 

 

Jeonghan gnaws on his bottom lip, building up the courage to ring the doorbell. ‘ _Seungcheol is in there…’_

 

Eventually, he stabs at the button and waits. Not a second later and Jihoon’s voice comes over the intercom “Get your ass up here, Yoon,” startling Jeonghan enough to get him to move inside the building. He runs up the stairs in one breath, cursing the maintenance crew for not having fixed the elevator, ‘ _How did it break in the time between now and the last time I was here?’_. Immediately, he’s confronted with Jihoon leaning on his doorframe, holding the door open. Giving the shorter male half a smile, he walks past him into the apartment and through to the studio, Jihoon following suit. When he walks into the studio the first thing he sees is Seungcheol, sitting with his arms crossed on the couch. He’s wearing a black band tee, half tucked in, and distressed black jeans held up by a fraying red belt. Looking so effortlessly cool; Jeonghan hates it. Jihoon wanders over to his desk and sits down with a huff, not detecting the tension between the two just yet. Jeonghan sits on the edge of his desk, looking everywhere in the room except, of course, at Seungcheol. Raising an eyebrow, Jihoon glances between the two, at last sensing the atmosphere.

 

Sighing, Jihoon rubs his temples, “Okay, what the fuck happened now?”

 

When no one answers he scoffs, “When was the last time you two spoke?”

 

“Monday” is Seungcheol’s short, to-the-point answer.

 

Jihoon appears to think for a moment, still rubbing his temples with his eyes trained on the floor “You do realise you’re both taking part in recording a _love_ song right?”

He stops to look at the two, clearly exasperated. Jeonghan exhales loudly through his nose as some kind of reply while Seungcheol just mumbles a ‘yeah’. 

 

“You need to sort your shit out…” he sighs “in fact, do it right now, I’m going to go make myself a cup of coffee” he gets up, shakes his head and leaves the studio, closing the door behind him.

 

Silence ensues for a minute before Jeonghan speaks up.

 

“You’re stupid,” came his clever well-thought-out remark.

 

“Real mature Yoon, like you can talk”

 

“You want to talk about maturity? How about you take some responsibility for your dumb, fucking, actions once in a while, huh?” Jeonghan spits, moving off the desk to stand a fair distance from the male with his arms crossed, facing Seungcheol who’s slouched on the couch.

 

Seungcheol squints his eyes, “And what dumb fucking actions would I be taking responsibility for exactly?”

 

Jeonghan blinks at him in disbelief, “I really wasn’t wrong when I called you stupid was I? God, you’re infuriating” 

 

“What right do you have to say that? You’re the most confusing fucking person I’ve ever met” he huffs angrily, standing up off the couch and taking a step towards Jeonghan.

 

Scoffing, Jeonghan takes a step forward too, anger levels rising fast. “What don’t you get? You were an asshole, why can’t you own up to that? And you call me confusing?” In one swift movement, he jolts forward and gives Seungcheol a shove, causing him to stumble back a few steps. His blood is boiling and his body is moving before his brain can process anything. 

 

Seungcheol takes the same few steps forward that he lost when he stumbled backward and shoves Jeonghan back with just the same force. Being lighter, the impact sends Jeonghan back a bit further, but he recovers quickly and surges back at the male. Using as much strength as he can gather within a 2-second window, he shoves once again. This time, Seungcheol trips backward on a bump in the carpet and lands on his ass. The momentum Jeonghan carries causes him to continue forward and fall on top of Seungcheol with a surprised yelp.

 

Seungcheol’s back becomes flush with the floor from the impact. The two make eye contact, the fire behind each set of eyes burning dangerously. Seungcheol’s eyes flicker down to Jeonghans lips before returning to meet the latter’s eyes.The contact is held for what feels like minutes but is rather just 10 seconds, before Seungcheol lifts his head up at a remarkable speed and smashes his lips aggressively against Jeonghans. The younger is too shocked to do much of anything, but when he comes to his senses he pulls away roughly, glaring at Seungcheol. The older looks up with an unreadable expression for a moment, but not for too long as Jeonghan's open palm comes down hard on his left cheek with an impressive slap sound. 

To Jeonghan's surprise, Seungcheol huffs a short laugh and smirks. ‘ _What is with this guy—‘_ his thoughts are cut short when he feels a hand grab the back of his neck and pull him down forcefully, only to be met just as violently with his lips once again. Seungcheol is quick to move his lips into a rhythm, encouraging Jeonghan to join. Every fiber of his being is telling him to rip away but he stays latched on to the boy underneath him, slowly moving his own lips to match with Seungcheol’s. The pent-up aggression is being exhausted into the kiss, teeth clashing more often than not. Jeonghan can even taste a bit of blood, although his lips were already quite chapped to begin with. Even in his state, he can’t help but notice how soft and warm Seungcheols lips are, pressing so firmly against his own.

Seungcheol puts a hand on Jeonghans chest and pushes him off, causing Jeonghan to automatically stand up after fumbling with his balance for half a second. The older gets up after him and pushes Jeonghan against the nearest wall, pinning him against it completely. His back hits the plaster with a loud thud but that’s the last thing on either of their minds. Seungcheol's hands are pinning him by the shoulders while Jeonghan’s start to roam. They make their way to the hem of the older’s shirt and slide underneath, cold fingers making contact with warm skin. The hiss that falls out of Seungcheols mouth gets lost against the younger’s lips. Jeonghan digs his nails into the flesh of the other’s waist.

Seungcheol flinches when he feels the nails at his sides “Fuck…” he mutters, in return sliding his hands down and giving Jeonghan's ass a harsh squeeze. The action causes him to gasp, parting his mouth long enough for Seungcheol to finally force his tongue in properly, after licking Jeonghan’s lips for so long, he’s finally gained entry. Jeonghan releases his grip, leaving behind deep crescent-shaped marks that are sure to bruise, and brings one of his hands up to the other's hair, grabbing a fistful and deepening the kiss. The two go at it for just a minute longer when Jeonghan breaks off the kiss and pushes the boy away from him rather roughly. They pant into the silence for a moment before Jeonghan moves towards the door.

 

“Okay, not gonna lie, I totally left the apartment—“ Jihoon opens the door and steps in as Jeonghan reaches for the handle. “Uh, where are you going?” he interrupts himself as Jeonghan brushes past him out of the studio. 

 

“Out. Maybe Seungcheol will tell you” is his cold, breathless reply, exiting the apartment and shutting the door behind him.

 

Jihoon looks back to Seungcheol confused, “So, will you tell me?”

 

“He wants to start recording tomorrow, says he has a... sore throat or something…”

 

“Fucks sake, can’t you two act civil for one hour, at _least_?” Jihoon whines, dragging a hand through his hair, frustrated.

 

“Clearly not…” Seungcheol shakes his head, eyes trained on the floor.

 

Jihoon grumbles something under his breath before sighing and looking at Cheol.

 

“Just go home for now, I can move some things around to get more time for you two to sort your shit out… sore throat my ass” Jihoon murmurs, waving him out.

 

Seungcheol mumbles what could be interpreted as a thank you or an apology and strides out of the room, through the apartment, down the stairs, and out the door. What he certainly doesn't expect to see is Jeonghan sitting on the curb, phone to his ear and shivering to no end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o.o
> 
> ok it wasnt as long as i remembered. oh well.
> 
> SORRY FOR BEING LATE BTW I SAID THIS WOULD GO UP THE DAY AFTER THE LAST ONE N IT DIDNT HUHUHUH IM SORRYYYYYYY
> 
>  
> 
> much love <3 <3
> 
> cliché  
> ˈkliːʃeɪ  
> noun  
> 1.  
> a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.  
> "that old cliché ‘a woman's place is in the home’"
> 
> ha.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they work it out.
> 
> ...
> 
> (finally, jihoon was sick of it tbh)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh hhey yall i miss'd uuuuu
> 
> idk what the rules are for sharing twt acc's on ao3 are, but if u feel like it, drop ur @ in the comments n ill come say hiiiiii
> 
> thanks for readinggg 
> 
> <3 <3 <3

Seungcheol walks towards him quietly, hearing Jeonghan’s side of the phone conversation easily, thanks to the quiet night. The streets are deserted. 

 

“Yes, I’m sorry Jihoon… Yeah I know I’m stupid… I do hear that a lot believe it or not… Ok, ok…so can I stay over?… I don’t have a problem with sleeping on the floor… Thank you, seriously… Alright, I’ll be up soon.”

 

He takes the phone away from his ear and ends the call before sighing and hanging his head. Seungcheol approaches him cautiously and sits on the curb next to him.

 

The older clears his throat before initiating with a calm, “hey”

 

Jeonghan lifts his head up and looks at Seungcheol as the older sits next to him.

 

They sit in silence, letting the cold night air seep through their clothes until they’re both freezing. Jeonghan finally breaks the silence as he turns his head to look Seungcheol in the eye.

 

“What are we doing?” he whispers, sounding so exasperated it almost breaks Seungcheol’s heart.

 

“We’re sitting on the side of the road?” Seungcheol answers, uncertain.

 

Jeonghan huffs out a single dry laugh, “No, I mean _us_ , together, what are we doing?”

 

Seungcheol furrows his brow, “I’m not sure I understand, Jeonghan”

 

“Of course… how could you? There’s no point trying to explain it, you should get going”

 

Jeonghan gets up and dusts himself off, Seungcheol following suit. 

 

“I’ll see you, Seungcheol” Jeonghan breathes before turning to head back into the apartment.

 

“Wait, Jeonghan!” Seungcheol grabs his wrist, “Help me understand”

 

Jeonghan stares down at that familiar, calloused hand gripping his wrist before replying.

 

“How am I going to do that?” 

 

“Let’s go for a walk” Seungcheol suggests, “then you can explain it to me”

 

Jeonghan looks longingly at Jihoon’s apartment building before sighing and agreeing.

 

“Fine, just a short one”

 

Seungcheol gives him a genuinely pleased smile that shouldn't make Jeonghan’s heart flutter the way it does. Not after what they did. 

 

They stroll down the dimly lit streets, passing by a streetlamp struggling to function without flickering. 

 

“Why are we like this?” Jeonghan asks when they’re a good three minutes away.

 

“Like what?” Seungcheol questions, absentmindedly kicking a stone in his way.

 

“We’ve known each other since middle school,” Jeonghan begins, “We never really talked much, even when we entered the same high school” he continues as Seungcheol nods to show he’s listening. “I realised you were kind of a dick so I tried to steer clear of you for our entire high school education thus far, which proved to be difficult because you _really_ love annoying me” Jeonghan pauses to give Seungcheol a look and receives a toothy smile in return. 

 

“Somewhere after all that, we actually managed to tolerate each other; our groups merged and we were kind of forced to get along in a way. But then this whole ‘song’ thing came up, not to mention Mingyu’s party, and then you were slightly homophobic without really realising it, during which I’m pretty sure you were almost confessing to me. So yeah, I got really mad at you and refused to speak to you for a bit. And just then, after not speaking for what? 3 days? We get into an argument and end up _making out_ , like how does that even happen?” Jeonghan finishes, panting slightly after getting himself a bit worked up towards the end.

 

There’s silence on Seungcheol’s end so he chances a look at him. Seungcheol is smiling to himself, before pursing his lips in thought.

 

“First of all, let’s start heading back to Jihoon’s apartment, second of all, now that you say it all out loud, we’re really fucked up, and lastly, maybe we should do something about that; if not for us, then for Jihoon” Seungcheol speaks after prolonged silence.

 

The pair turn back around to start heading back before Jeonghan can reply.

 

“Yeah, we should do something about it… what do you suggest?”

 

Seungcheol doesn't even have to think before he replies, “We could start over”

 

Jeonghan blinks at the boy walking next to him, “That’s actually not a bad idea”

 

Seungcheol grins before sticking a hand out towards Jeonghan

 

“Hi, My name is Seungcheol, what’s yours?” 

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes playfully, “You sound like a 5 year old”

 

“Just go with it”

 

Jeonghan sighs and shakes his hand, “Hi Seungcheol, I’m Jeonghan, It’s nice to meet you” he pulls his hand back with a soft smile, “How was that?”

 

“Just perfect” Seungcheol beams, eyes never wavering from where they stay staring only at Jeonghan and the latter has to look away before his blush becomes visible.

 

They walk in comfortable silence all the way back to the complex.

 

“Wow, 10pm already?” Seungcheol exclaims when he checks the time, leaning on his car.

 

“Yep, time flies” Jeonghan murmurs, finally noticing (read: ‘being distracted by’) Seungcheol’s adorable red nose, frozen from the cold.

 

“Hey Jeonghan, would you still be up for recording right now? Like I know we kind of just had a ‘moment’,” Seungcheol air quotes, “but I’m sure Jihoon would be more than happy if we get it out of the way for today”

 

Jeonghan snaps out of his trance and nods, “Yeah that’s fine, let me just check with Jihoon though”

 

Seungcheol nods as Jeonghan quickly dials his producers number.

 

“ _Jihoon_ ”

 

“Oh god that name thing again, can’t you just greet me with a ‘hello’ like a normal person?”

 

_“Shut up Jeonghan, it’s a habit. Now what do you want?”_

 

“Would you still be up for recording right now? Long story short, Seungcheol and I are all ‘buddy-buddy’ again”

 

“ _Yes, I was hoping to record with at least one of you today anyway, so everything’s still set up_ … _God, you two are actually insane,_ ” Jeonghan hears Jihoon sigh.

 

“That’s great, thanks Jihoon, and sorry for being such a handful” 

 

“ _Ah it’s fine, you two are coincidentally the only people I put up with, so you're just lucky you're collaborating_ ”

 

“Thanks again, we’ll be up soon”

 

Jeonghan ends the call and gives Seungcheol the thumbs up.

 

“Thank fuck, I’m freezing out here” Seungcheol mutters, much to Jeonghan’s amusement, as they trail inside the building and climb the stairs back up to Jihoon’s apartment.

 

“All smiles now, are we?” Jihoon greets them as they enter his studio sheepishly.

 

“Sorry Jihoon” the pair chorus as they collapse onto the couch.

 

Jihoon gives them a genuine smile “It’s fine, I know you had some issues to sort out between you so I’m just glad you figured it out”

 

“Damn Jihoon, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me” Seungcheol chokes, wiping away pretend tears.

 

“And I’ll keep it that way” Jihoon sighs before clapping his hands together, “Now, who’ll go first?”

 

Seungcheols hand shoots up, “I vote Jeonghan because it’s his song”

 

Jihoon stifles a laugh, “God, you’re 5 fucking years old”

 

Jeonghan laughs out loud, “What did I tell you Seungcheol, you’re a damn toddler”

 

“At least I gave some input” Seungcheol pouts at Jeonghan, sending shivers down the latter’s spine with thoughts of ‘ _I kissed those lips…’_

 

“Fair enough, Jeonghan you’re in first” Jihoon quips, pointing his thumb at the recording booth.

 

Jeonghan scowls at Seungcheol as he pushes open the door to the booth, receiving only the brightest smile he’s ever seen in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh im sorry for sucha big build up only to be resolved in like 2 seconds lmao but i myself just dont hold grudges so it felt weird to keep this angst goingmuch longer.
> 
> sooooo now there's a bit of a break!!!! i'll get to writing right away but the updates won't be weekly anymore :((((
> 
> thanks 4 sticking w me thus far, and if u want to be patient, there's more coming!uwu


	16. not an update! - discussion and clarification time!

hey y'allllll! sorry this isn't actually an update for the story but i'm working on it!

i've just decided i'm going to change the course of the story from where it is, so it's gonna take some extra planning to figure out where that goes instead of what i was originallyy planning, but... i hope it goes well lmao.

 

i haven't had the biggest attachment to this story from the beginning, due to it being so old, but i do want to at least finish it~ so i'm sorry if the rest of this fic comes out rushed towards the conclusion, but i have soooOOOOo many ideas and prompts for other fics (MANY won't even see the light of day) that i kinda wanna finish this asap!

 

OK AND NOW. some clarification on the boysz that i should've done at the start but i feel it's necessary to add it now in case i finish this thing before i can clarify everything:

 

 

seungcheol:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

 

jeonghan:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

 

joshua:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

met jeonghan on the 1st day of high school and they've been close ever since

 

junhui:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

met jeonghan in year 10 when jun moved to korea

 

soonyoung:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

met jeonghan through wonwoo

 

wonwoo:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

soonyoung’s bff

met jeonghan during high school, in the library, both studying their asses off for the same class

 

mingyu:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

met cheol 1st day of high school

 

minghao:

 

18 yrs old

high school senior, year 12

came from china to korea in year 11

met mingyu on his first day in year 11

became friends w mingyus friends

 

jihoon:

 

17 yrs old

\- graduated early because he’s THAT SMART.

\- works independently but is contracted with a company called Pledis (i'm lazy).

\- he gets HELLA MONEY but just saves it so he has an average apartment w/ a studio.

\- has lots of famous friends, but never drops names.

\- known for being younger than almost all of the people he works with.

 

seungkwan:

 

high school senior, 17 yrs old

year 12

jeonghan’s bff

met jeonghan in high school

 

vernon:

 

high school senior, 17 yrs old

year 12

met cheol in middle school, ended up in the same high school

 

chan:

 

high school senior, 17 yrs old

year 12

childhood friends w jeonghan

 

 

\-------

 

 

 

AND TO CLARIFY bc u might be like OMG THEY'RE SO YOUNG AND TINY HOW COULD YOU MAKE THEM SO HORNY. ok. seungkwan and vernon didn't do the nasty that one night.

 

sooo uhhhh YEAH that's their _basic_ character profile (bare bones people). butTTT i do want to answer any questions you have about everything~ whether it be;

 

more character deets

future works

where the fucc this fic is going

literally, anything else, go wild.

 

 

\-------

 

 

currently writing, i hope to finish this ASAP like... before easter... no that's too soon nevermind sorry i don't have a deadline lmao.

 

thanks for chillin n reading, if u made it this far, SRSLY CONGRATULATIONS.

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhm yjh and csc and ljh are chillin. until they're not. bc yjh's face feels like it's on fire.
> 
>  
> 
> thanks for existing csc - yjh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi it's an actual chapter update!!!
> 
> tbqh i actually thought i posted this already, so it's been sittin' in my laptop doin nothing for a little while.... oopsies/.

The entire song only ends up taking three days to record, which, according to Jihoon, “Isn't that bad for rookies with no prior recording experience”. Jeonghan beams when he hears the finished project for the first time, Jihoon having insisted he waited until he puts his finishing touches on it. 

 

Jeonghan and Seungcheol spent the 3 days together, almost stuck at the hip. Much to the amazement of their friends, who were all stunned into silence, not one of them mentioning the pair as they would laugh and smile together effortlessly.

 

Jeonghan thought that attempting a friendship with Seungcheol after their whole ordeal would be too awkward to bother with, but (begrudgingly), he has to admit that it’s been way more fun starting over with him than he ever thought it could be. Seungcheol made sure to make it clear that he’s not homophobic in the slightest, and even confessed to Jeonghan that, after thinking about it for the longest time, he’s pretty sure he’s bi. Jeonghan showered him with hugs and encouragements and it only brought them closer. Despite their newfound closeness, they still manage to keep it sensible and professional around Jihoon. Or...they try, at least.

 

 

 

“I feel like a proud mom,” Jeonghan says, the day after they finally finish with the song.

 

It’s just him and Jihoon lounging in the studio, Seungcheol still not back after being sent outside to get Thai food over half an hour ago.

 

“I’m proud too— of the song, that is. Didn’t expect to like it as much as I do,” Jihoon chuckles into his coffee.

 

Jeonghan cracks a smile at him, he’s used to the backhanded compliments, so on the rare occasion Jihoon _does_ actually compliment him, he soaks it up like a sponge, having no shame in reveling in the flattery, despite Jihoon being younger.

 

Before he gets a chance to respond, the front door buzzes and Jeonghan leaps to his feet to answer it. Jihoon raises an eyebrow at him, a faint smirk threatening to appear,

 

“Eager, are we?”

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes and ignores him, opting to escape the studio and buzz Seungcheol in before Jihoon can truth bomb him any longer.

 

Seungcheol enters the studio first, carrying two plastic bags of food and wearing his signature wide grin, 

 

“Did someone order—“

 

“—Yes, Seungcheol, someone did, that person was me. Give me the food or I’ll steal it off you and kick you out,” Jihoon interrupts, stalking over to Seungcheol and snatching the bags before collapsing in his chair again, like walking to Seungcheol was such an effort. (It’s been a lazy Saturday.)

 

Seungcheol just blinks as Jeonghan slips past him and flops onto the couch,

 

“I’m the oldest here,” Seungcheol mutters to himself in faint disbelief, shuffling over to the couch and sitting on the floor in front of it, Jeonghan taking up most of the couch with his limbs.

 

Jihoon wheels over to them in his chair, passing them each a container of pad thai. Jeonghan isn’t even that hungry, but he picks at his food as much as he can before abandoning it on a nearby desk for Jihoon to finish later. Taking pity on the boy on the floor, Jeonghan swings his legs off the couch and plants his feet on the ground, causing Seungcheol to look up at him, half-way through eating his pad thai.

 

Jeonghan pats the now empty seat cushion beside him and Seungcheol scrambles off the floor and onto the offered couch, almost spilling his food in his haste.

 

Without thinking too much about it, Jeonghan leans towards him and brings a hand up to the boy’s face. Seungcheol pauses his chewing as Jeonghan swipes his thumb over the corner of Cheol’s mouth, removing a bit of sauce that had begun to bother him. He wipes the sauce off his thumb and pulls back again.

 

Huh.

 

Surely it’s nothing new, but Jeonghan kind of only just realizes the mass appeal of Seungcheol. He’s drop-dead gorgeous. His long eyelashes, strong jawline, pouty lips and seemingly natural wavy hair are a killer combination. Jeonghan just can’t believe it took him this long to acknowledge it. Okay, maybe some fuelled hatred for the man blinded him temporarily— around 5 years— but at least he’s appreciating the view now. And is that _eyeshadow_?

 

“Jeonghan!”

 

Jihoon’s piercing voice brings him out of his thoughts.

 

“Yes! What, what is it?”

 

The pair just look at him for a moment.

 

“We’ve been trying to get your attention for a solid minute now— something on your mind?” Jihoon asks, but Jeonghan doesn’t like the way his voice gets suggestive towards the end, the question.

 

“No, it’s nothing. Just… spacing out,” Jeonghan tries his best to remain indifferent, like he hadn’t just been imagining what it would be like to run his hands through Seungcheol’s hair. No, of course not.

 

If Jihoon suspects something, which he does, he doesn’t show it, just continues on, and Jeonghan’s grateful, 

 

“I _said_ , did you have a release date in mind or can I just drop the song according to my own schedule?”

 

Jeonghan grabs a nearby pillow and sits it on his lap, “Hmm… I was thinking about holding off until our graduation in a couple weeks time, what do you think?” he asks, stealing a noodle from Seungcheol’s pad thai, too lazy too reach for his own.

 

Jihoon stretches in his chair, eliciting a wide yawn, “Yeah, that should be fine, just give me an exact date later on and I’ll write it down somewhere. Any reason why?”

 

“Kind of, I guess… My friends, well, you know Joshua and I’ve mentioned all the rest, they were planning this group trip a little while ago to Jeju Island for graduation. Actually—“ he turns to Seungcheol, “— knowing Jun and Soonyoung, they probably invited you, Mingyu, Hansol, Seokmin and Minghao too.”

 

Seungcheol grins, and it’s soft, makes Jeonghan want to stare at him longer than what is considered socially acceptable.

 

“That could be cool! A big group bonding trip, sounds fun”

 

Jeonghan can only nod in agreement, turning to Jihoon before he does end up staring too long,

 

“You should join, Hoonie! It’ll be fun~!”

 

Real excitement flickers behind Jihoon’s eyes, but it’s gone as soon as it appears,

 

“Can’t go. One of the artists I’m working with is being a bit flaky at the moment and I need to be here at all times until they get their head in the game,” he says, at least managing to sound regretful.

 

A pout forms on Jeonghan’s lips as he gets ready to whine about Jihoon spending too much time in the studio and not enough time ‘appreciating life’, but he’s cut off before he even starts talking when he catches Seungcheol staring at him—at his protruding bottom lip, specifically.

 

Whatever Jeonghan was about to whine about just completely disappears from his brain, his tongue suddenly feeling too big for his mouth.

 

Seungcheol swipes his tongue over his own bottom lip, still unaware that he’s been caught staring, until Jeonghan clears his throat, making the culprit look up and turn away.

 

Jeonghan squints his eyes at him a little longer before also turning away, making direct eye contact with an exasperated Jihoon,

 

“You guys are aware that I’m here too, right?”

 

Jihoon puts his pad thai on his lap and wheels over to the pair, scrutinizingly close,

 

“Have you two fucked yet?”

 

His voice is nothing more than a murmur, as though they were keeping a secret from someone else in the room despite there being no one, but it still makes Jeonghan’s ‘shocked’ reflexes kick in, sending Jihoon rolling at top speed to the other end of the room with a swift kick to his chair.

 

Seungcheol starts stammering an answer while Jeonghan gets up from the couch and makes his way to the door, the heat of his blush too hot for him to handle,

 

“Wait—“ Jihoon can barely get a sentence out between his cackling, “W-wait, Jeonghan stop. C'mon, you know I was kidding. Kind of.”

 

Jeonghan does stop. He whips around confidently, despite his bright red face, and puts on his best ‘indifferent’ face,

 

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, we haven’t,” And Jeonghan tries, he really does, not to sound disappointed, but he’s only human, and he’s never been too great at hiding his emotions from awkward situations that arise too often around him. Jihoon grasps onto that disappointment in his voice, and his eyes shine with cunning. Jeonghan has to get the fuck out of there.

 

He turns back around and swiftly leaves the studio, but unfortunately, he’s not far enough away to miss Jihoon’s,

 

“Seungcheol doesn’t seem to mind the idea of changing that, Jeonghan!”

 

 

Okay, that’s not what he expected. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im wildin now fellas WOOOOOOOO how did this story turn into cracc like ??? 
> 
>  
> 
> i wuv u.


	18. discussion time <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yall. important shizzz.

HI GUYS! IT'S BEEN A WHILE, I MUST SAY!

 

i've had two (2) additional comments on the most recent chapter in the past month which both got me thinkin'... 

 

should i continue this thing?

 

bc if i do, it'll probably be me just throwing bad chapters at you until it's finished??

 

(YKNOW BC I'VE BEEN PLANNING A FEW OTHERS BC I HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A 3 YR OLD AND I HAVE TOO MANY FIC IDEAS ha.)

 

 

so if anyone feels the need for me to just finish what i started lmk! otherwise ill just conclude it where it is and maybe (?) start smth else??

 

AND BC I KNOW Y'ALL ARE SO LOVELY TO ME (!), i know some of u may be wondering if I even enjoy writing this.

 

the answer: i do. it's fun to do on the side and i feel bad just ditching this story bc it's kind of like my badly-written/planned baby hhhhhh

 

ALSO i'm kind of curious to know if any early readers (we talkin chapter one dayzzz) are still lurking. bc i sure am!

 

i still love anyone who decided to read this thing despite the weird story summary, and whether i continue it or not, i hope u all know im super grateful for you!!!

 

 

see ya! <3 <3 <3


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeonghan manages to stay away from cheol... but not for as long as he'd hoped.
> 
>  
> 
> also cheol is really embracing his bisexuality here; you go king!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyy it is i. decided to CONTINUEEEEEEE this story!!!!
> 
> i have three chapters written already (ok they arent edited but when do i ever?????) and there's more after that too.
> 
> prepare for some hhhhh fluff in the upcoming chapters. if you've been deprived of cute jeongcheol in this fic THEN its time. 4 qyoot gay shit.
> 
> also not to be ksjskjkk but i really missed yall :((( 
> 
> OKAY SORRY I ALWAYS WRITE TOO MUCH IN THESE NOTES SJKDFGH
> 
> pls enjoy im sorry its kinda short :/

After that confrontation in the studio, Jeonghan makes it his own civic duty to avoid the pair whenever possible. Instead of joining his friends for coffee after school, he spends the two weeks leading up to graduation either in his room practicing, or in Jihoon’s studio just helping the producer with his clients’ projects.

 

The gods must truly be on Jeonghan’s side recently because he hasn’t crossed paths with Seungcheol in the studio since that pad thai night.

 

Jeonghan finishes up some vocal samples in the recording booth and steps out, greeting Jihoon again with a grin,

 

“So, all done, right?”

 

Jihoon allows a tiny fond smile to appear on his face,

 

“I’m gonna get Cheol to come in to do some adlibs for this client’s song,” he says, pointing at one of the many names in a long list, “and your song comes out soon, right? Two days at the most I think.”

 

“Two days?” Jeonghan pulls up a chair and monitors his samples, “Graduation is in two days, Jihoon, your timing is incredible,”

 

Jihoon chuckles awkwardly, genuinely incapable of accepting any form of compliment.

 

Jeonghan stills, sensing that Jihoon might be awkward for a different reason,

 

“Jihoonie, when is Seungcheol coming in exactly?”

 

“I wanted him to come in tomorrow, seriously, but he told me he’d be busy so—“

 

Jihoon is interrupted by a loud crash sound coming from the direction of Jihoon’s kitchen. The older of the two jumps in his chair, almost falling off in the process, much to Jihoon’s amusement. The studio door flies open and, of course, Seungcheol stumbles in, breathing heavily.

 

“There was,” he pauses to catch his breath momentarily, “a fucking cockroach… in the kitchen. It went under the fridge but I broke a fruit bowl in the process of trying to— Oh, hi Jeonghan”

 

Seungcheol interrupts himself, straightening up at the realization that he barged in on Jeonghan and Jihoon’s session.

 

Jeonghan groans and hides his face in his hands, mentally cursing Jihoon for sniggering beside him.

 

“Not this shit again,” Jeonghan mutters to himself, watching Seungcheol’s shoes carry the man over to the couch.

 

Jihoon pats Jeonghan on the back sympathetically, spinning around towards his desk and turning on another monitor, ready for Seungcheol’s recording.

 

“I heard from Seungkwan that we’ll all be staying a week at a hotel in Jeju, and 3 nights at Seungkwan’s family home. Is that right, Jeonghan?”

 

Seungcheol asks, blinking his _fucking long_ eyelashes at him.

 

The boy in question lifts his head up, feeling quite suddenly excited by the mention of the trip. He and Seungkwan had spent quite a while planning it, but with the addition of their 5 new friends, the duo ended up getting stressed and fed-up with booking so Seungkwan’s grandmother offered to house 12 boys for a few nights. That woman is truly one of a kind. Jeonghan mentally reminds himself to tell her that when they get there.

 

“Yep, that’s right! It was such a nightmare to get us all on the same flight though, god. It’s like no one wanted to fly separately despite the plane ride being _literally_ only an hour,” Jeonghan bemoans, gesticulating along with his complaints.

 

Seungcheol smiles absentmindedly, “Our friends are super attached to each other, huh? It’s pretty cute…” He trails off, biting his lip in thought.

 

Jeonghan can only return the smile and look away before the oldest sees the way his smile spreads right across his face. Talk about _whipped_ , Yoon Jeonghan.

 

“When you guys are done talking about a vacation that I’m not even going to, I’d like to just get Cheol in the booth and finish here so I can fuck off to bed,” Jihoon says flatly.

 

Seungcheol jolts off the couch and practically flings himself into the booth, pulling the headphones on just as Jihoon plays the track.

 

Watching Seungcheol in the recording booth makes Jeonghan feel weird emotions he never knew existed. Ones he can’t even name. Awestruck doesn’t quite cover it. ‘Whipped’ would probably describe it best, but Jeonghan has too much pride to label it as such. _Mingyu is whipped. Hansol is whipped. I’m not whipped._

 

Jeonghan nods off to sleep at some point, drained from the events prior. He’s awoken sometime later by the jarring shaking of his entire body, courtesy of Jihoon grumbling about how _he’s_ supposed to be the one sleeping, not Jeonghan. He springs awake, pouting at Jihoon before stretching his way off the chair and dragging his feet to the studio door.

 

“See ya Jihoon, text me when you can drop the single, it’s fine if you’re too busy to do it on the d-day,” Jeonghan looks over his shoulder to see Seungcheol asleep on the couch. Suddenly Jeonghan isn’t remotely tired anymore.

 

“Hey, why is he allowed to sleep here, but I’m not!”

 

Jihoon already has an answer ready— that he “was _just_ about to wake him up, you impatient giraffe”— but he doesn’t even get the first letter out because Jeonghan crosses the room faster than Jihoon has ever seen him move.

 

Jeonghan looms over the sleeping boy, scowling in jealousy at the sleep that Cheol gets but he doesn’t. He reaches down and gently places his palms flat on Seungcheol’s shoulders, before proceeding to shake him violently, much like how he was woken up.

 

Without even opening an eye, Seungcheol’s hands shoot up and he wraps his arms around Jeonghan’s torso, pulling the body down onto his placid form. Jeonghan’s arms collapse and get trapped between their chests.

 

“Choi Seungcheol, let me go right now!” Jeonghan yelps, but Seungcheol only squeezes him tighter and nuzzles into his shoulder.

 

Seungcheol’s voice is muffled from under Jeonghan’s hoodie, “Maybe you should have thought about that before you woke me up so aggressively,” he replies calmly, breathing a content sigh right into Jeonghan’s shoulder.

 

“Okay, I’m sorry, can you please let go of me now before Jihoon’s patience runs out,” Jeonghan cranes his neck, only to see Jihoon shaking his head but clearly trying not to laugh.

 

Finally blinking his eyes open Seungcheol murmurs a small “hey,” which makes Jeonghan look down at him, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

 

“Hug me back and I’ll let go,” the oldest mumbles, wriggling up the couch slightly.

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes in what is _supposed_ to be exasperation, but the light red on his cheeks and the soft smile he gives despite himself really give him away.

 

“Whatever,” he sighs, sliding his arms from between them and wrapping them around Seungcheol’s chest. He let himself linger for a few moments before attempting to pull away. Seungcheol lets his arms drop to his sides as promised, and Jeonghan climbs off of him, pulling the offender up and off the couch with him.

 

“Let’s leave Jihoon alone, c’mon Cheol,” Jeonghan says, leading the way back to the front door, Seungcheol trailing behind him.

 

Jihoon shouts a “see ya!” before they leave, and then it’s just them.

 

“So… I guess I’ll see you at graduation on Monday, huh?” Jeonghan says, scuffing the floor with his shoe.

 

Seungcheol smiles and nods, bringing a hand up to ruffle Jeonghan’s hair quickly before the latter can swipe him away.

 

“Bye Hannie,” Seungcheol says, minutes later when they’re in the parking lot.

 

Seungcheol gets in his car. Hannie? That’s new.

 

It’s not unwelcome though…

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. we going /plane emoji/ soft jeongcheol hours.
> 
> if u want me to follow u on twt feel free to leave ur @ down below. BUT BE WARNED if u don't want others to follow it then delete it after i reply or smth idk. totally up 2 u <3 <3
> 
> i cant wait til the squad get to jeju!! its gon get Gay. ofc. we been knew.
> 
> thank you so much for all the sweet sweet lovely comments on my last lil 'help' update, i'll go n reply to em all now!!
> 
>  
> 
> (also don't forget to stream 어쩌나 when it comes out in a few days! (tmrrw where i live owo)
> 
>  


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally they're on their way!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> "this is what friends do right? super friendly right?" - yoon jeonghan's brain

Jeonghan finally gets home at 7pm, tugging his graduation robe off in one swift movement, cap flying off with it. Jun had decided that they would all go to various landmarks in Seoul right after the graduation ceremony, so Minghao could take group photos of them all with his big fancy camera. 4 hours later and Jeonghan can finally flop onto his bed, his open but full suitcase bouncing once next to him. He twists around and zips up the suitcase, feeling way too proud of himself for fitting all his ‘necessities’ in such a small space.

Checking his phone, he realises he has a whole 12 hours before he’s forced to wake up and head to the airport, where he then has to sit on a cramped, short-distance plane for an hour or so. With a crippling fear of flying. Luckily, it’s only a short flight, unlike the one he did 5 years ago when he flew to Hong Kong. Even that was only about four hours, but he spent the entire time on the verge of tears, clutching his armrests.

 

He’ll make sure to have Seungkwan sitting next to him to keep him calm. That kid has done the exact flight countless times before, always visiting his grandparents on the school breaks.

 

Brushing off those thoughts, Jeonghan spends the rest of his night checking off everything he thinks he’ll need for the trip, dozing off without even putting his phone on charge.

 

 

_________________

 

 

 

 

 

“Yoon Jeonghan! Have you done a headcount yet, like I asked you to?”

 

Jeonghan lifts his head up from his phone and sees a sassy Wonwoo with a hand on his hip and an eyebrow raised accusingly.

 

He puts his phone down and sighs, “Everyone is at the airport,” Jeonghan starts, looking back at his phone before continuing, “Seungkwan and Soonyoung dragged Vernon to a shop to get snacks for the flight, Minghao is taking pictures of Mingyu and Jun. Joshua, Chan and Seokmin are watching planes take off, and I don’t know where Seungcheol is... but he’s definitely here” he finishes, glancing up at Wonwoo again.

 

Wonwoo furrows his brow, “ _You_ don’t know where Seungcheol is?” he asks, genuinely confused, just before a chime sounds, followed by a passenger announcement that their flight will be departing shortly and that they should all head to the gate.

 

Jeonghan unplugs his phone charger from the wall adapter and stuffs it in his carry-on.

 

“Let’s go, we’ll meet them there,” Jeonghan says, tugging on Wonwoo’s sleeve and walking them over to the gate.

 

Hopefully, Seungkwan will remember that Jeonghan is fucking terrified of flying and he can convince the blonde boy to sit next to him before he asks—

 

“Hey, Jeonghan! Who’re you sitting next to on the flight?” Seungcheol asks, sidling up to him with a grin.

 

“I _was_  going to sit next to Seungkwan, but...” Jeonghan glances behind him at Seungkwan lining up next to Hansol, the two of them looking at each other with so much affection in their eyes, it almost makes Jeonghan gag at the sweetness of it.

 

Seungcheol looks over at them too, nodding his head in understanding, “Yeah. I don’t think that’s gonna happen either.”

 

Jeonghan sighs and looks back, only to see he’s next-in-line for boarding. The two of them board together and head to their seats.

 

“This is my seat,” Jeonghan says as he points at the aisle-seat next to them. He turns and Seungcheol looks surprised.

 

“Hm, I guess I’m next to you Mr. Yoon,” he says, dumping his carry-on in the overhead compartment and doing the same with Jeonghan’s belongings.

 

Oh god. Jeonghan really should’ve brought his Xanax or something.

 

They take their seats and strap themselves in. Jeonghan peeks behind and in front of them. Okay, Mingyu and Wonwoo behind, and Jun and Joshua in front. Chan is… uh… oh! He’s behind Mingyu with Seok and Soonyoung. Surrounded by friends on all sides, he realises, when he looks to his left across the aisle and sees Seungkwan and Hansol whispering and giggling to each other. Gross.

 

The pilot comes on the intercom shortly after, announcing their departure as the plan starts rolling towards the runway. Jeonghan gulps when he feels the plane stop, ready for takeoff. As with most flying fears, the takeoff and landing were the worst parts of the entire experience for Jeonghan. His knuckles turn white from gripping his armrests and he squeezes his eyes shut when the plane moves forward and starts to pick up speed.

 

His breaths come out shaky and forced, until a warm hand pries his right hand off the armrest and entwines their fingers together. Jeonghan creaks an eye open and sees Seungcheol smiling softly at him, the older boy’s thumb gently caressing the back of Jeonghan’s hand.

 

“Just look at me, Hannie,” Seungcheol murmurs, barely audible over the plane engine as the vessel soars into the sky.

 

Jeonghan does as he says, despite his chin starting to wobble with held back sobs. They maintain eye contact for a while, and miraculously Jeonghan feels himself start to relax. A tear manages to slip out of his left eye and trail down his cheek, but Seungcheol is quick to reach with his free hand and gently swipe the droplet away, keeping his palm cupping Jeonghan’s left cheek.

 

The intercom crackles once again, with the pilot informing the passengers that they can now remove their seatbelts and move about the cabin freely, et cetera.

 

Seungcheol removes his hand from Jeonghan’s face but keeps holding his hand, which the latter is too grateful for.

 

“Why didn’t you mention your fear of flying earlier?” Seungcheol asks softly.

 

Jeonghan looks away and down at the aisle floor, “I guess just ‘cause it’s not a big deal…” he sniffs, “I’ll get over it someday anyway...”

 

“Oh… Jeonghan," Seungcheol's eyes flood with an emotion that Jeonghan is too scared to identify, "You don’t have to be embarrassed by it, almost everyone feels some kind of anxiety from flying at some point in their lives,” he looks at Jeonghan with so much genuine comfort and concern, the boy on the receiving end feels like throwing himself out of the fucking aircraft as the butterflies invade his stomach.

 

Instead he smiles weakly, keeping it genuine, hoping Seungcheol will get his message of gratitude.

 

“Cheol… I woke up too early this morning, can you wake me up when we get there?” Jeonghan asks, feeling the fatigue wash over him in waves, forcing his eyelids to droop and make him appear so vulnerable and tired.

 

Seungcheol’s eyes grow fond as he nods and turns his body to face the back of the chair in front of him. Jeonghan sighs and thinks, “oh well, fuck it,” before resting his head on Seungcheol’s shoulder and snuggling into his chest as much as the separated seats will allow.

 

Even in his mostly unconscious state, he still manages to hear Seungcheol’s voice whisper, “Sleep now, Angel,” and goddammit Jeonghan’s heart just about melts as he lets himself drift off against the older boy’s warm chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wink wonk


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> touchdown on jeju island!
> 
> also some soft 95 line interaction ft youknowwho owo

“Hannie, time to wake up, we’re here,”

 

Jeonghan scrunches his eyes before letting them pry open. As the light floods his vision he’s greeted with Seungcheol’s smile, brighter than the sun streaming in through the plane window.

 

God, when did he became such a sap? ‘ _Probably when your gay ass realized what a fucking catch he is’,_ his brain supplies helpfully.

 

He groans, stretching in his seat as Seungcheol stands up next to him. When Jeonghan looks around he sees everyone standing up. Wait. Peering outside the window, he sees the tarmac, other planes, and the airport. He slept through the landing.

 

“Holy shit,” Jeonghan breathes, unbuckling his belt which Seungcheol must’ve done up for him on the way down, and stands up as well.

 

Before Seungcheol can tell him to start moving into the aisle, Jeonghan flings his arms around Seungcheol’s neck and pulls him close into a hug. The older responds so naturally, wrapping his arms around Jeonghan’s waist.

 

Jeonghan tilts his head up and whispers, “thank you,” before pulling away and stepping into the aisle.

 

Seungcheol, ever the gentleman, grabs both their carry-on bags from the overhead and even carries the bags out of the plane, despite Jeonghan’s whining. The group all gather before heading through security to baggage claim. As they wait for all their suitcases, Vernon comes over to the pair of them and throws an arm around Seungcheol’s shoulders, steering him away to another conveyor belt. At the same time, Seungkwan slides into place next to Jeonghan and gives him a quick side hug.

 

“Sorry for ditching you on the plane Jeonghannie, I only remembered about your fear when we were already in the sky and you were asleep,” Seungkwan explains, eyebrows drawn together apologetically.

 

Jeonghan smiles and ruffles Seungkwan’s hair lightly, “It’s no problem Kwannie, it wasn’t too bad this time around…” he looks over to Vernon and Seungcheol joking around by themselves, bags already collected.

 

As he’s distracted, Seungkwan pulls his and Jeonghan’s suitcases off the belt.

 

“Kwannie! What kind of older friend am I to just let you do these things for me?” Jeonghan scolds when he realizes.

 

Seungkwan just smirks, “Not my fault you were _distracted_ ,” he teases, dodging a flick to the forehead.

 

When everyone has their belongings they make their way out of the airport and into a hired minivan headed straight for their hotel.

 

 

 

____________

 

 

 

 

The first one out of the car is Seungkwan, who jumps out of the van and sprints into the lobby, leaving Hansol to lug his suitcase(s) inside. The spritely blonde boy greets the hotel staff like members of the family and Jeonghan has to wonder if they actually _are_. It seems like Seungkwan knows everyone and everyone knows Seungkwan on this island.

 

“Hey Jaeyoon! Reservation for me and my friends,” Seungkwan chirps.

 

The receptionist—Jaeyoon— grins at him before peeking behind him at all the wide-eyed young men filtering into the lobby.

 

“I know you’ve never had a shortage of friends but,” Jaeyoon pauses to count them all, “11 people is a lot to bring home with you.”

 

Jaeyoon chuckles to himself as he hands Seungkwan 4 keycards.

 

“There’s no such thing as too many friends,” Seungkwan beams and bows to Jaeyoon, then slips over to his group.

 

Soonyoung immediately tries to steal a room keycard but gets his hand slapped away.

 

“We haven’t even decided the rooming situation yet,” Mingyu points out.

 

Wonwoo laughs, “That’s where you’re wrong my redwood tree friend, _I_ have already assigned rooms by age order,”

 

“Oh god,” Minghao mutters to himself.

 

“Seungcheol is with Jeonghan and Joshua,” Wonwoo starts, passing out the keycards he (successfully) stole from Seungkwan.

 

“Jun with Soonyoung and I, Minghao with Mingyu and Seokmin, Seungkwan with Hansol and Chan,” he finishes handing out the cards amongst cheers and a single complaint from Chan.

 

“Why am I the only one that has to third-wheel?” The youngest huffs.

 

Joshua snorts, “You’re not the only one Chan, we’re in the same boat here,” he says mock-conspiratorially.

 

The rest of the group laugh except for Jeonghan who just rolls his eyes without malice.

 

With Seungkwan leading the way, they make it up the two floors to their rooms, conveniently all next to each other. They plan to meet downstairs in half an hour to do some exploring, before separating off into their rooms.

 

Seungcheol unlocks the door and holds it open for the other two to shuffle in with their baggage.

 

“This isn’t bad at all,” Joshua remarks, dumping his bag in the corner of the room and bellyflopping on a king single.

 

Jeonghan follows suit, letting a sigh of relief drift past his lips. Seungcheol plants his bag down next to the other two and opens the mini fridge.

 

Just as Jeonghan lets his eyes flutter shut, his phone starts ringing. Groaning, he sits up and pulls the device out of his pocket. Seeing the caller ID he picks up immediately.

 

“Jihoon! I just got to the hotel, is everything okay?”

 

Seungcheol stops rummaging through the fridge and turns to look at him.

 

“What? Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday, though. Didn’t want to release the song until I had your go ahead,” Jihoon chuckles into the phone.

 

“Oh, then,” Jeonghan checks the time, “How about at 5 pm? It’s in 6 hours, is that alright?”

 

“Have you asked Seungcheol? Surely he has a say in it too,” Jihoon sneers, almost teasingly.

 

Jeonghan just sighs and puts Jihoon on speaker.

 

“Cheol, is 5 pm an okay time to release my— _our_ song?” he corrects himself. Jihoon better be proud.

 

Seungcheol grins, closing the fridge door and settling himself on the bed beside Jeonghan.

 

“Sounds good to me,” he agrees, giving two thumbs up.

 

“Great, I’ll text you five minutes before it goes live just in case you two are... busy,” Jihoon says.

 

Joshua barks out a laugh at Jihoon’s heavily connotative words.

 

“Jihoon, I’ve missed you, man,” Joshua heaves.

 

Seungcheol raises an eyebrow, unaware that the two knew each other.

 

“The fact that we haven’t seen each other in so long is a crime, my good man,” Jihoon admits, adding a sigh for effect.

 

Jeonghan scoffs and tosses his phone to Seungcheol before going over to his suitcase.

 

“So how’s Jeju so far?” The young producer asks, quite out of the blue.

 

“It’s so nice, Jihoon. The weather is amazing and we’re right in-between a field and the beach!” Seungcheol pipes up, rolling onto his stomach and sprawling out on Jeonghan’s bed.

 

Jihoon huffs, “That does sound quite picturesque. I’ve only been to Jeju once myself to direct a photoshoot but—“

 

“You’re a photography director too?!” Joshua exclaims, much to the amusement of his two roommates.

 

“Sort of... hey... speaking of directing, Jeonghan, did you maybe want to film a music video for your song?” Jihoon asks slowly.

 

Seungcheol and Joshua look at Jeonghan in shock, as the latter just sits there, also in shock.

 

“Um... well, yeah. But... are you suggesting we film it in Jeju? Like, now?” Jeonghan asks.

 

Jihoon laughs, “Well, not right this second but I can fly there in 3 days with a film crew. And I’ll get my writer friend to start planning a script for the video too. Sound good?”

 

“Of course, if you’re not too swamped with work, Jihoon—“

 

“Hey wait!”

 

Seungcheol interrupts, “If you’re going to release a music video for the song, why not just debut the song with the video? If you’re okay with delaying the song release for an extra month or something,” he suggests.

 

“That’s not a bad idea Seungcheol. What do you think, Jeonghan?” Jihoon asks.

 

Jeonghan shuffles over to his bed and sits on the end of it, biting his lip in thought, “I guess that would make sense... Yeah, let’s do that. I don’t mind waiting a bit longer.”

 

Seungcheol smiles and hands Jeonghan back his phone.

 

“Cool, I guess I’ll see you in half a week,” Jihoon says.

 

“Yep, thanks again Jihoon, bye!”

 

“Bye Jihoon”

 

“See you soon!”

 

Jeonghan hangs up the phone and flops back onto his mattress, head narrowly missing Seungcheol’s thigh.

 

“Cheol, you have your own bed. I already claimed this one as mine,” Jeonghan groans, pushing Seungcheol across the sheets with his legs.

 

Seungcheol gets up off the bed and pretends to walk to his own but twists around and tackles Jeonghan instead.

 

Joshua starts giggling his head off.

 

“Dammit Choi Seungcheol!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu owo
> 
> next chapter has some /tension/
> 
> i'll let u decide which kind
> 
> :D


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seungcheol needs to release some steam...
> 
>  
> 
> also jihoon arrives!! and he brings with him, some strong opinions...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh hello i'm back again for like the 76534th time :P
> 
> i hope u enjoy this chapter, even tho the 1st half was written two months ago and i literally just whipped up the 2nd half in 20 mins!!!!

_** Three days later ** _

 

 

“A screwdriver for you, sir.”

 

Jeonghan whips his head around so quickly he almost falls off his submerged barstool. He smiles at the bartender, signaling to her by giving a short wave.

 

“It’s from the man at the end of the bar,” she winks, placing the cocktail in front of him, ponytail swishing as she gets to work making another drink.

 

Confused, Jeonghan peers around all the heads accompanying him at the hotel’s pool bar until he meets eyes with a complete stranger. Jeonghan raises an eyebrow and points at his drink, to which the stranger nods at him with a friendly smile.

 

Before he can grab the glass to take a sip in gratitude, he feels himself being pulled off his stool by strong arms and plunged underwater.

 

Jeonghan comes up for air just as soon as he’s dunked, spluttering indignantly. When he finally blinks his eyes open, he catches a head bobbing underwater and swimming away. Scowling, Jeonghan lunges forward and grabs the offender by his trunks, resurfacing him and preventing escape by holding onto the man’s wrist.

 

“Seungcheol. I _just_ straightened my hair. What could possibly be so important that you garnered my attention in the most idiotic way possible?” Jeonghan asks, bringing Seungcheol closer by the grip on his wrist.

 

Seungcheol bites his bottom lip, eyes scanning over Jeonghan’s body shamelessly and landing on the hand around his wrist, “That man bought you a drink. You don’t even know him, what if he spiked it?” he says, freeing his arm but staying in close proximity.

 

Jeonghan is still willing the blush away from having Seungcheol stare at him so brazenly, so he kind of misses the question.

 

“I’m— sorry, what?” Jeonghan asks, feeling almost dizzy as he watches Seungcheol push his damp hair off his forehead.

 

“I _said_ , what if the guy that ordered you the drink is a creep?”

 

“Then… well, I don’t think he is. He seemed sweet,” Jeonghan argues, turning his head around to look back at the guy.

 

Jeonghan is just about to add that the guy isn’t even at the bar anymore when Seungcheol cups his cheek and twists Jeonghan’s head around to face him again.

 

Eyes widening, Jeonghan catches Seungcheol looking down at his lips, before he’s quickly shifting his eyes to peer at Jeonghan through his damp eyelashes.

 

Seungcheol drops his hand from Jeonghan’s face like he’s been burnt and looks away, taking a subtle step back in the water.

 

“I was just going to… tell you that he left… so,” Seungcheol clears his throat, “Anyway, the real reason I came looking for you is because I got a voicemail from Jihoon saying he’s just touched down here,” Seungcheol says quieter than usual.

 

Jeonghan gulps, still trying to process Seungcheol’s spontaneity and the feeling of the older boy’s eyes on his lips. If he had just closed the distance between them…

 

“Jeonghan?” Seungcheol blinks, seemingly back to his normal self, “Did you hear me?”

 

“Yep, Voicemail from Jihoon. Jihoon’s here. Just touched down. All that stuff,” he mutters, feeling the weird tension between them dissolve into the chlorinated water surrounding them.

 

Seungcheol grins, “We should probably get dry then… he’ll probably want to start right away.”

 

Jeonghan can only nod and follow Seungcheol as he swims to the edge of the pool and hauls himself out. Of course he looks like a fucking supermodel while he does it. Jeonghan will take the pool ladder thank you very much.

 

 

 

________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

Jeonghan and Seungcheol manage to round everyone up— with Minghao’s help— in under 20 minutes. Jeonghan somehow convinces Seungkwan to take everyone on a walk to the beach while he waits for Jihoon at their hotel, so they don’t scare the other hotel guests.

 

“What time is it?” Jeonghan asks as they wait idly by the hotel entrance.

 

Seungcheol switches his phone on, “Twelve thirty, he should be here soon.”

 

4 minutes later a sleek black Audi Q7 pulls up right in front of them, Jihoon grunting as he jumps out.

 

“They make cars too big these days, I swear to god,” Jihoon grumbles, flashing a quick smile at his driver when he hands him his luggage.

 

“Great to see you too, as always boss,” Seungcheol grins as he pats Jihoon firmly on the shoulder.

 

The Audi drives away as Jeonghan gives Jihoon a quick side-hug. Seungcheol takes the baggage from Jihoon with ease.

 

Jeonghan hums as he watches Seungcheol’s muscles bulge under a tight black t-shirt before switching back over to Jihoon, “where’s your crew staying?”

 

“One of the guys has a place not far from here that they’re all posting up at,” Jihoon says, “But we can talk about business a bitlater, right?”

 

Jeonghan nods, “Exactly, which is why Seungcheol is going to take your luggage up to your room and we’re gonna meet him down at the beach.”

 

Seungcheol bites his lip, visibly impressed at Jeonghan’s ability to command him so easily. The sound of Jihoon’s laugh surrounds them as Seungcheol strolls off without a word, luggage in tow.

 

“Great, let’s head down!” Jeonghan says, leading them down the street.

 

They walk the short trip to the beach, Jeonghan recounting the past 3 days with eleven of his friends. Upon arriving, Jeonghan stops Jihoon just before they head down the sandstone steps to the beach, “I have to warn you, they’re a bit more… friendly and just, overall way more cuddly than you’re used to so don’t be surprised if…” Jeonghan trails off when he realizes it’s a pointless cause. Nothing can prepare this human-hating vessel for the rays of sunshine that are his friend group.

 

Jihoon stares past Jeonghan and squints, causing the latter to lift an eyebrow and spin around to see what’s got his friends attention so soon. In the distance is just his group of friends creating a ruckus half-way between them and the water.

 

“Who the fuck is that?” Jihoon asks, bringing a hand up to block the sun from obscuring his vision.

 

Jeonghan glances at Jihoon and tries to follow his line of sight, “Yeah Jihoon I have no clue which guy you’re talking about, there’s quite a few.”

 

Jihoon huffs and uses the same sun-blocking hand to point at the group, “That one! The idiot juggling oranges next to the guy peeling them at sonic speeds.”

 

“Oh, that’s Soonyoung!” Jeonghan smiles as he watches the man in question drop all 3 oranges, “He’s the one that likes to scab food off people. Love him to bits but god he’s a handful.”

 

Jihoon nods and brushes past Jeonghan, taking rather long strides for someone of his stature, glides down the stairs and across the hot summer sand to the boisterous group lounging under the broad beach umbrella on towels and lounge chairs.

 

“Hey, you!” Jihoon yells, just as Jeonghan catches up behind him laughing.

 

The entire group draws their attention towards the infamous Jihoon whom they’ve all heard so much about. Shocked gasps rip from a few too many people, and before Jihoon even has a chance to address the group, they swarm him with introductions, compliments and way too many hugs.

 

“Jeonghan…” Jihoon warns as Jun lets go of his tight grip on him.

 

Jeonghan chuckles and lets everyone settle down a bit, “Ok Jihoon, this is Jun, that’s Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seokmin…” he gestures to everyone as he lists off the names, “Minghao, Vernon, Seungkwan and Chan.”

 

Joshua moves through the sea of boys and confronts Jihoon with a bro-hug, executed perfectly, weirdly enough.

 

Jeonghan spots Soonyoung pouting just as Seungcheol arrives by his side with a breathless “hey” into his ear.

 

“Soonyoung, what’s wrong? Am I not what you expected?” Jihoon asks, sarcasm on full display as he sends the boy a fake frown.

 

Soonyoung’s pout turns into a look of surprise, “How did you know my name, Jeonghan didn’t introduce me—which was _rude_ by the way!” he asks, puzzled.

 

Jihoon sends Jeonghan a look when the older laughs, “I know a lot of things, Soonyoung, you’ll come to realize that.”

 

In the corner of his eye, Jeonghan sees Seungcheol looking utterly confused. He also notices that Seungcheol has changed back into swim shorts and a tank top.

 

“Anyways, it’s great to meet all of you, genuinely, and I hope you don’t mind that I might actually need your help on-set,” Jihoon says, a bit shy, “I have a great camera crew but it takes a bit more than that to pull off a shoot, I might even need actors,” he finishes, looking right at Soonyoung.

 

His request is met with palpable excitement, everyone willing to do their part in helping Jeonghan, Seungcheol, and Jihoon. After everyone presses Jihoon for way more personal information than he’s used to giving out at any one time, they all disperse to do their own things under the sun.

 

Jeonghan decides he’ll start with some sunscreen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i want the entire next chapter to be set on the beach bc it would be cute :((


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally. it begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a much longer chapter.
> 
> enjoy.

The rate at which everyone scatters would frighten most anyone, but Jeonghan was used to it at this point. Just a few weeks ago they managed to get most of the group to a local festival, and before he could blink, Jeonghan was alone by the cotton candy stand.

 

He sighs and wanders over to where Jihoon is only just settling into the lounge chair beside Joshua, the older boy’s mouth running a mile a minute.

 

“And even this morning I saw Jeonghan staring at Seungcheol while he applied sunscreen to his face. Like, Cheol will be doing the most mundane things and Jeonghan stares at him with stars in his eyes, it’s actually…” Joshua trails off when he follows Jihoon’s amused gaze and lands his eyes on Jeonghan himself.

 

“Pretty cute,” he murmurs, finishing the sentence to himself.

 

Jeonghan sits down next to Jihoon’s outstretched legs and hums as Joshua attempts to change the subject. Jihoon clearly isn’t having it though, as he interrupts the rambling with a laugh.

 

“If you think rooming with them is bad, try spending hours in the studio with them,” Jihoon rolls onto his stomach, “The things I hear when they think I’ve left the apartment…”

 

Joshua’s eyes widen and he drags his lounge chair closer to Jihoon’s with such difficulty Jeonghan cackles into his hand.

 

“Well, what do they say!? I can’t believe you haven’t told me yet! What scandalous things did they do in your studio Ji?” Joshua asks, lowering his voice on the last question.

 

Jeonghan groans as the questions set Jihoon off, giggling uncontrollably as Joshua bats at his arm to answer him.

 

“You guys are evil,” Jeonghan says as he stands up, having heard _quite_ enough already.

 

Jihoon just waves him off and sits up in his chair, preparing himself to spill everything to Joshua. Jeonghan throws his hands up in exasperation and waddles over to a bigger group of friends.

 

On the way he passes his two Chinese friends. Jun is pressing a bottle of sunscreen into Minghao’s hand and pointing at his back. He then turns around, back facing Minghao, whose face has gone a delightful shade of pink. As he walks nearer to the pair, he can hear Minghao attempt an irritated sigh, but it comes out as a shaky exhale, the whole situation making Jeonghan’s heart swell.

 

“Hao, can you get my shoulders too? Please?” Jun asks sweetly, sending Jeonghan a toothy grin. Jeonghan shakes his head fondly,glancing away as Minghao coughs and glides his hands over Jun’s bare shoulders.

 

The wind picks up a bit as Jeonghan sits on the sand beside Chan, the boy working vigorously with Wonwoo, Seokmin and Soonyoung to build the sturdiest sandcastle he’d ever seen.

 

“Has it got a name yet?” Jeonghan asks as he watches Wonwoo shape a turret before Soonyoung presses a small shell into it.

 

Chan throws Wonwoo a piece of seaweed for the castle entrance and stops to think, “Maybe we’ll combine our names for it… Like WonSoonChanSeok Castle or SoonChanSeokWoo Estate,” he says eventually.

 

Wonwoo throws him a raised eyebrow, “The creativity is overflowing,” he says in a monotone voice.

 

“I don’t hear you giving any suggestions,” Chan replies, narrowing his eyes at Wonwoo.

 

Soonyoung Seokmin and Jeonghan exchange look as the two continue their staring contest, “You know what,” Jeonghan says as he stands up with a grunt, “I’ll go ask the others for suggestions, you guys just… work in silence for a bit hey?”

 

Chan looks up at him and nods, slapping Jeonghan’s butt as he walks away. Immediately, Jeonghan sees Mingyu pointing a camera at him and the others from afar.

 

“Smile!” Mingyu shouts with a smile. Jeonghan tilts his head to the side as Mingyu snaps the picture and brings the camera down to look at it.

 

“Woah, you look like a model!” Mingyu says when Jeonghan reaches him, turning the camera around so Jeonghan can see the screen.

 

His hair had been swept up by the wind, his eyes squinting from the glare of the sun, but somehow it looks wistful instead of necessary.

 

Jeonghan nods approvingly, “You’re a really good photographer Gyu,”

 

Mingyu lights up at that, “Thanks! Minghao taught me last year. I took some better ones a couple minutes ago.”

 

Jeonghan waits as Mingyu clicks through the photo gallery until he gets to the pictures he wants. When he turns the screen around again, Jeonghan sees a wide shot of the whole group, taken from somewhere by the stairs to fit everyone in. In the picture, Jeonghan spots a tiny Seungkwan sitting on a pair of shoulders in the distant ocean, the person under him just peeking out from the surface of the water. Jeonghan looks up from the camera and finds the real Seungkwan still splashing around with Hansol in the ocean.

 

“It’s such a cute picture! We should get everyone together for a proper group photo!” Jeonghan beams at Mingyu who smiles right back, “Also, can you do me a favor and make up a name for their sandcastle over there,” he points towards the trio’s mountain of sand.

 

Mingyu laughs, “Sure thing.” He walks over to the castle and squats next to Wonwoo. Jeonghan jogs down to the shore where the water doesn’t quite reach that soft dry sand and looks out to the ocean. Seungkwan spots him and wriggles out of Hansol’s arms to wade over to him.

 

“Hannie! Enjoying the sun?” Seungkwan asks, sitting in water that comes up to his ankles when standing up.

 

“Jeju is really stunning, Seungkwan, thanks for bringing us all here,” Jeonghan says.

 

The compliment brings a shy smile to the young boy’s face as he looks down to play with the sand.

 

“It wasn’t just me…” he tries to deflect but accepts the gratitude for what it is.

 

A wave, no taller than Jeonghan’s knee surfaces and crashes over Seungkwan’s head. Jeonghan laughs, backing away from the water as it bubbles closer to him. Seungkwan pouts when the water level drops again, water dripping off the end off his nose. Hansol splashes up behind him and helps him up.

 

“There’s so much sand in my hair now,” Seungkwan whines, wrapping his arms around Hansol’s torso and resting his head on his chest.

 

Hansol pats his hair, “Are you coming in the water, Jeonghan?”

 

Jeonghan shakes his head, “Probably not, I already swam in the hotel pool earlier today.”

 

“Suit yourself!”

 

Hansol sprints back into the ocean, Seungkwan following close behind. Jeonghan can only smile as he watches Seungkwan convince Hansol to get on his shoulders. Praying no one drowns from their efforts, Jeonghan wraps his arms around himself to conserve some heat, the wind dropping and picking up sporadically.

 

He decides to take a stroll up the water’s edge and sees Seungcheol standing alone, looking out onto the ocean like he’d been doing. Seeing him so at peace, Jeonghan wonders whether to even disturb him at all. Seungcheol must’ve felt him staring because his head turns and they lock eyes. They’re still for a moment before Seungcheol breaks into a smile and jerks his head in the direction Jeonghan was heading in for his walk.

 

Jeonghan smiles back and catches up to the older boy as he begins walking up the coast.

 

“Enjoying the calm before the storm?” Seungcheol asks as they walk side-by-side. Hands detached but swinging in unison. Jeonghan could link their fingers together.

 

Instead, “What do you mean?” he asks.

 

“Just, you know what Jihoon is like, he’ll probably make a few of the guys cry by the end of the shoot.”

 

Jeonghan nods but then realizing Seungcheol isn’t looking at him, he hums and asks, “Has Jihoon ever made you cry?”

 

Seungcheol makes an amused face, “That’s for me to know and you to never find out,”

 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jeonghan says.

 

His answer makes Seungcheol laugh which makes Jeonghan smile because, just quietly, it’s one of his favorite sounds.

 

“I’m sure I’ll tell you one day, we have loads to catch up on anyway,” Seungcheol grins, that gummy smile directed only at Jeonghan. Why does he want it this way all the time?

 

Suddenly, Seungcheol stops and turns around with a low whistle, “We’ve walked pretty far. Either they shrunk or we are really fast walkers,” he comments, hands on hips.

 

“They probably shrunk,” Jeonghan shrugs, “not that Jihoon could get much shorter anyway.”

 

Seungcheol gasps and looks at him in awe, “I’m _so_ telling him you said that, oh my god,”

 

Jeonghan squints at him, pursing his lips, “You wouldn’t dare.”

 

Seungcheol seems to pause and think about it for a moment before answering, “You’re right, I wouldn’t,” his passive face turns into a grin, “I like you better alive anyway.”

 

The sun seems to be higher than ever, blazing fiercely and creating drop shadows on Seungcheol’s face. Despite the heat, Jeonghan feels himself shiver and blames it on the wind. As if partly reading his mind, Seungcheol pipes up.

 

“It’s pretty warm on the sand, do you wanna take a dip?”

 

Jeonghan screws up his face in thought, “I don’t know, I didn’t bring any sunscreen and I don’t have a rash guard…”

 

Seungcheol treads into the water just up to his shins and Jeonghan follows.

 

“If you get burnt I will personally rub aloe vera all over you,” Seungcheol says, placing a hand over his own heart mockingly like some scout’s honor trope.

 

Before Jeonghan can even get over the imagery of Seungcheol’s hands rubbing gel over his bare shoulders, Seungcheol whips off his tank top, balls it up and throws it onto some distant dry sand.

 

“Your turn,” he says, leaning to one side, waiting patiently.

 

Jeonghan tries to be a gentleman and keep his eyes from wandering but despite having already seen the expanse of his chest a few times this holiday, he’d never seen it glowing under the hot sun like it was now.

 

Embarrassingly, he’s so captivated he doesn’t register Seungcheol taking the two steps towards him until he feels his shirt being lifted up, exposing his stomach.

 

“Choi Seungcheol!”

 

The man himself gives a shrug, “You were distracted again,” the corners of his mouth twitch, “now can I do this?”

 

Jeonghan just nods and looks away as he lets Seungcheol pull his shirt over his head before discarding it in the same place as his tank top.

 

“Let’s get wet!” Seungcheol yells and throws himself into the ocean.

 

Arms wrapped around his stomach, Jeonghan chooses to inch his way in. Eventually, though, it’s too slow for Seungcheol, who grabs his wrist and pulls him all the way in. Seungcheol treads water despite very easily being able to stand where they are.

 

“Do I still need to worry about the state of your hair?” Seungcheol asks cheekily.

 

Jeonghan flicks water at him and fails to suppress a smile, “No, you’ve already ruined it for today, go nuts, babe.”

 

He watches with caution as Seungcheol is caught off-guard at the friendly pet name. But, right after, Seungcheol disappears under the water and pops up behind him.

 

“It would be my pleasure, _baby,”_ Seungcheol says, throwing seaweed on Jeonghan’s head.

 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, plucks the plant off his head and turns around, not expecting Seungcheol to be as close as he is. His first reaction is to somehow cover the blush on his cheeks without being too obvious. Luckily, Seungcheol doesn’t seem to notice, or if he does, doesn’t mention it.

 

“It’s actually a bit cold in here…” Seungcheol’s bravado seemingly deflating in embarrassment at having been so passionate about swimming only moments earlier. He’s standing on the sand instead of floating now, Jeonghan can only guess he’s tired from the way his chest heaves slightly, half submerged. Not that he was looking, of course.

 

“Come here,” Jeonghan’s mouth moves quicker than his brain can process what he’s saying. Seungcheol is just as surprised, but does as he says and moves that bit closer with a smile.

 

“So forward Mr. Yoon,” Seungcheol teases, to which Jeonghan can only scoff.

 

Seungcheol’s arms come out of the water and wrap around Jeonghan’s neck, pulling him into a hug.

 

“Ah, that’s better, no wonder you weren’t complaining, you’re not even remotely cold!” Seungcheol sighs, holding him tighter.

 

Jeonghan inhales sharply as Seungcheol presses his face into his shoulder. Calming himself down, he pulls Seungcheol closer by his hips and slides his hands around to his lower back.

 

After a while of Seungcheol humming their song to himself, Jeonghan pulls back, letting Seungcheol’s hands drop into the water with a splash. The pout that forms on the older boy’s lips is short-lived, as Jeonghan grabs onto his shoulders and lifts himself up, wrapping his legs around Seungcheol’s waist.

 

“Carry me over there!” Jeonghan demands over the sound of Seungcheol laughing, letting his hand leave his shoulder momentarily to point in a general direction.

 

Seungcheol holds him up with one hand under Jeonghan’s thigh and the other pressing into the small of his back, “You got it, your highness!”

 

The water almost pushes them along completely, had Seungcheol not chosen to wade through water instead of treading it.

 

“You have really soft skin, do you moisturize your _thighs_?” Seungcheol asks on the way, brushing a thumb over the supple skin on Jeonghan’s thigh where his shorts had ridden up.

 

Jeonghan slaps him lightly on the back, “Watch it Cheol,” he reaches down to adjust his shorts, “And yes I moisturize my _thighs,_ it’s not uncommon!”

 

“Never heard of anyone else doing that…” Seungcheol wraps it up with a chuckle when he gets a not-as-light slap on the shoulder.

 

They continue their banter until Jeonghan gets tired from being carried and wriggles out of Seungcheol’s tight squeeze.

 

“It doesn’t even make sense that you’re tired Hannie!” Seungcheol calls out to him as Jeonghan walks back onto the dry sand, leaving him behind.

 

He sits down, resting back on his hands with his legs stretched out in front of him facing the ocean. With a sigh, he waves at Seungcheol still goofing around in the shallows. Seungcheol manages to entertain himself for a total of 3 minutes before giving up and letting himself be carried to shore by the waves. Jeonghan laughs as Seungcheol finally manages to reach the shore, plonking his butt onto the wet sand, just out of the water’s reach. Jeonghan waits for Seungcheol to start giggling, always so self-aware, but is surprised when his face remains almost stoic. Beginning to think something’s up, Jeonghan is relieved when Seungcheol actually moves but is once again confused when Seungcheol pushes forward and gets on all fours. Realizing this must be a bit of some kind, Jeonghan relaxes and lets his head tilt back, maintaining eye contact with Seungcheol as the latter starts crawling towards him slowly. Jeonghan is vaguely reminded of a similar scene in a movie—Mamma Mia, he recalls. At this point, Jeonghan is just impressed that Seungcheol hasn’t broken out of whatever character he’s in as he finally reaches the sand just in front of where Jeonghan lays.

 

“Hey,” Jeonghan greets lazily, enjoying the little show a bit too much.

 

Seungcheol doesn’t answer, just continues forward until he’s crawling over Jeonghan’s legs and hovering above him.

 

“Hey,” Seungcheol eventually replies back in a murmur, flicking his gaze between both of Jeonghan’s eyes.

 

“Listen,” he continues, “I just wanted to apologize again for being such an asshole to you before we became friends, you’re probably sick of hearing it but I mean it every time, Jeonghan,” he admits quietly.

 

Jeonghan can barely breathe, the small gap of air between them clearly not enough for his lungs. He gulps and opens his mouth to reply, letting the silence linger before replying, “You were never an asshole, just confused. And that’s okay, you know it all now,” Jeonghan whispers with a quick smile, nerves making his bottom lip tremble unnoticeably. Seungcheol furrows his brow.

 

“Jeonghan, can I kiss you?”

 

The question makes Jeonghan’s arms feel like jelly and he can barely keep himself up on his hands as he nods and leans forward.

 

Seungcheol meets him in the middle and _finally_ presses their lips together, oh so softly, like he’s afraid Jeonghan will break again. It feels nothing like the kiss they shared before, it’s a billion times better. Jeonghan presses back firmly, trying to convey the emotions he was too afraid to verbalize. Seungcheol glides his lips over Jeonghan’s and pulls back to plant a sweet kiss on Jeonghan’s forehead.

 

“You’re so cute,” Jeonghan breathes, pulling Seungcheol down and cuddling into his side, just wanting to be close to him.

 

Seungcheol sighs in contempt as Jeonghan presses light kisses up his neck, the salt of the seawater reminding Jeonghan of where they are. The realization pulls him out of the warm bubble they created, and he lifts his head up from Seungcheol’s shoulder. In the distance he sees all their friends gathering around the sandcastle, which had grown significantly since Chan and Wonwoo were arguing over the name for it.

 

“Cheollie, I think they’re taking a group photo,” Jeonghan pats his chest.

 

Seungcheol opens his eyes, which Jeonghan didn’t even notice were closed, “Well we can’t be left out, let’s go!”

 

They jump up and Seungcheol links their fingers together, pulling Jeonghan along as he runs down the beach towards the castle.

 

Jeonghan looks down at their hands, his heart doing a little flip. Although they haven’t voiced what they are and what they want to be, Jeonghan knows they’ll be alright. He was so tired of them dancing around each other, always skirting so close to the edge but never quite tipping over.

 

He’s all too glad to be dancing together instead.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SJKSJSJ sorry if it seemed rushed i just like watched mamma mia again recently n i wanted to write that amanda seyfried beach scene into this story bahahahah idk i hope it turned out ok :/
> 
> not beta'd uwu just yell at me if there's errors :))


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everything is just peachy :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year, i hope everyone has the best year and stays groovy in 2019!

The door clicks shut behind them as they shuffle into their hotel room. 

 

“Can’t believe the waiter hit on both of us simultaneously,” Seungcheol says, shrugging off his coat and throwing it on his suitcase.

 

Jeonghan does the same, “I know, I mean at first I was a little shocked but then I got to thinking how impressive it was.”

 

After spending hours upon hours at the beach, the group had finally walked back to the hotel, filing into the large function room next to the hotel reception. They split off into subgroups and started getting loud when Jeonghan was silently pulled out of the room by a certain Seungcheol. Down the road, they had their first date at a gross beach-themed diner where the waiter was just a bit too friendly and flirty. 

 

But aside from the sandy seats and borderline harassment, Jeonghan had the best time being wooed every time Seungcheol topped up his glass for him or when he paid the bill and left a nice tip despite the advances. When they got back to the hotel they skipped up the stairs and quickly unlocked their door, eager to escape their friends questions.

 

“Wanna watch a movie? I brought my laptop,” Seungcheol interrupts Jeonghan’s thoughts with an arm sliding around his waist.

 

Jeonghan bites his lip and nods coyly, “Sure,— but no romcoms— Seungkwan has made me watch enough of those to last a lifetime.”

 

Seungcheol _giggles_ and wow, Jeonghan didn’t need the heart palpitations but okay.

 

“How does a horror movie sound? Too cliche?” Seungcheol asks as he drops to his bag to pull out his laptop.

 

“Yep, sounds perfect.”

 

Seungcheol gets comfortable on the bed and starts clicking until he finds a decent contender. “Here, Hannie, it’s about a family trapped in a haunted house.”

 

Jeonghan takes a swig of water before replying, “When I said yes to ‘too cliche?’ I was referring to the genre, not the movie.”

 

“C’mon,” Seungcheol rolls his eyes fondly, “Yes, every horror movie seems to feature a white suburban family unable to leave their darling mansion with their two young children, but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh at every single one of them,” he pats the bedsheets.

 

Jeonghan laughs and closes the fridge door before jumping onto the bed next to Seungcheol.

 

“Cozy?” 

 

Jeonghan looks over at him and almost blushes when he sees the fond look and dopey smile planted on his face. Instead, he tilts his head up and gives Seungcheol’s cheek a quick peck.

 

“As cozy as I’ll ever be, Cheollie.”

 

Seungcheol stares at him for a bit before appearing to self-realize. He turns away to play the movie, cheeks dusted a sweet pink.

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

The movie ends up being actually scary and not at all laughable because they’re 30 minutes in and Jeonghan has migrated to sit between Seungcheols thighs, with the laptop resting on his lap. Seungcheol’s chin sitting snug on Jeonghan’s shoulder.

 

“Fuck’s sake, don’t go in there you stupid kid, you’re gonna—“ Jeonghan mutters but cuts himself off with a yelp thanks to the jumpscare he didn’t see coming. He scoffs, slightly embarrassed, before realizing he’s clutching onto Seungcheol’s hand for dear life. Seungcheol seems to realize at the same time.

 

“You okay, Han?”

 

Jeonghan turns his head, expecting to see a smug, amused-looking Seungcheol, but is surprised to see the same expression from before with the additional ‘concerned furrowed brow’ and Jeonghan just can’t take it anymore.

 

“Hannie?” Seungcheol asks again.

 

“Just peachy, babe,” Jeonghan breathes before closing the distance and planting a kiss right on Seungcheol’s lips.

 

Seungcheol takes a moment to respond in his surprise, but when he finally moves his lips; it’s heaven. Jeonghan glides his tongue across Seungcheol’s lower lip experimentally, and is greeted with a groan that travels right through Jeonghan’s body.

 

Jeonghan pulls away quickly to throw the laptop onto the adjacent bed and goes straight back in for the kiss. He invites Seungcheol tongue in and sucks on it, making Seungcheol whine. Jeonghan runs a hand down Seungcheol’s chest and gasps when his hair is pulled into Seungcheol’s fist. Jeonghan’s head tilts with it and Seungcheol takes the opportunity to trail kisses down his neck and back up to his lips. 

 

Jeonghan takes Seungcheol’s lips hungrily and slips his tongue back into Seungcheol’s mouth. The hand in his hair disappears and he uses his freedom to twist around until he’s straddling Seungcheol’s thick thighs.

 

“God, you look so hot like this,” Seungcheol pants, eyes dark as they trail Jeonghan’s body. 

 

Jeonghan moans and attaches his lips to Seungcheol’s, “When I saw you in those swim shorts earlier, I kept thinking about how much I wanted to mark your thighs,” Jeonghan confesses against his lips, hand reaching behind him to squeeze Seungcheol’s thigh.

 

Seungcheol groans, “You can’t just say things like that, Hannie.”

 

“And why not?” Jeonghan asks, maintaining eye contact as his fingers travel up under Seungcheol’s shirt, pulling it off as he goes.

 

“Because you’ll kill me, babe,” Seungcheol says once his shirt is off.

 

Hearing the pet name makes Jeonghan shudder with pleasure, and he shifts in Seungcheol’s lap, only to hear Seungcheol’s muffled moan from behind a hand.

 

“No, I want to hear you, baby,” Jeonghan murmurs as he pulls Seungcheol’s hand away from his mouth.

 

Seungcheol leans forward and takes Jeonghan’s lips once again, moving deeper and slower than before and making Jeonghan’s heart flutter.

 

The sound of the hotel room phone ringing makes Jeonghan jump and detach himself from Seungcheol’s lips.

 

Jeonghan huffs, annoyed, before picking up the phone. 

 

“What?”

 

Seungcheol chuckles at his tone but Jeonghan can sense he’s just as pissed off for the interruption.

 

“Whoa, hi, it’s Minghao,” comes the reply and Jeonghan lets himself feel bad for snapping just for a second since Minghao is too sweet.

 

“Sorry, the phone ringing scared me.”

 

“Oh,” Minghao giggles, “Well, I was just calling to say we all miss you and um… just… you see—”

 

Jeonghan sighs at the hesitancy, “What is it Minghao, you can tell me,”

 

“Okay fine, we let Chan drink since he’s legal now—“

 

“Um, in what country?!” Jeonghan asks, strained.

 

Minghao gulps audibly, “Right, but that’s not even the worst part…”

 

Seungcheol’s hand comes up to rub circles on Jeonghan’s back when he swears under his breath.

 

“Chan had a bit too much and he threw up, and Seungkwan cried because he felt responsible, which made Soonyoung cry, which— weirdly— made Jihoon sad. And now everyone is either drunk, sad, crying or all of the above.”

 

“Jesus Christ,” Jeonghan mutters when Minghao finishes, “And which are you?”

 

A pause. 

 

“None of them… But I’m the only one, so I could really use some help down here.”

 

“Down here?” Jeonghan repeats, “you guys are still in the function room?

 

Minghao sighs, “Yes, although I’m using the receptionist’s phone right now so I don’t even know for certain that they’re all still in there.”

 

Jeonghan inhales a long breath before saying a quick “I’ll be down in 5,” and hanging up.

 

Seungcheol’s arms wrap around Jeonghan and he takes the moment to breathe in the scent of Seungcheol’s body musk. He smells of Jeonghan’s body wash since he forgot to pack his, and his own familiar bodily scent—warm, clean and just so _Seungcheol_ that it makes Jeonghan’s nerves simmer down considerably.

 

“Everything okay?” Seungcheol asks when he pulls away and takes Jeonghan’s hands in his own.

 

Jeonghan smiles down at their hands before returning to steadily gaze into the other’s eyes.

 

“The kids are making a mess and I’ve been summoned to the function room to check it out.”

 

Seungcheol returns his smile warmly, “Eleven people is a lot to manage, do you think you’ll need some help?”

 

Jeonghan picks up Seungcheol’s shirt and hands it to its owner, “You bet, baby.” 

 

While Seungcheol pulls on his shirt, Jeonghan slides into a pair of slippers and waits by the door. They step out together once Seungcheol has done the same and head for the stairs.

 

“You know, I was about three seconds away from giving you head,” Jeonghan hums, linking his fingers with Seungcheol’s.

 

Seungcheol.exe has appeared to have stopped working because he chokes on nothing and almost stumbles down the stairs.

 

“I’m seriously going to kill Minghao when we get down there,” Seungcheol says after he recovers.

 

Jeonghan laughs and pulls Seungcheol closer by their linked hands, “Don’t shoot the messenger, Cheollie. And don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of time for all that after we deal with these angels.”

 

Seungcheol smiles at him and presses a kiss to his forehead, “Right you are, Hannie, right you are.”

 

 

 

3 Months Later

 

 

“It’s finished, it’s finished, it’s finished!” Jeonghan yells, waving his phone around so wildly he almost gives Seokmin a broken nose.

 

The group of 13 had to move their usual meeting spot after they got kicked out of their last one due to several noise complaints from fellow customers. Thus, they’ve moved to an independently owned dog cafe and made friends with the owner, Youngjae. 

 

“The music video?” Jun asks with bated breath.

 

Jeonghan beams, “Yes! Look, look, look, it’s beautiful!” he shoves the phone into Junhui’s hand, but it’s immediately snatched by a hand from beside him.

 

“Just got an idea. I think we should wait and have a viewing party, babe,” Seungcheol appears and hands Jeonghan his phone back.

 

Chaos ensues, and they’re all so lucky that Youngjae likes them. Half of them love the idea and the other half… can’t wait.

 

“Fuck no, I’m not waiting another minute, Jihoon refused to show me even after I sucked him off!” Soonyoung pouts, attempting to sneak the phone out of Jeonghan’s grasp.

 

“Gross, Soon,” Seungcheol laughs, “he’s basically my brother, I don’t need to hear that.”

 

Much to Jeonghan’s disbelief, Soonyoung and Jihoon started a purely sexual relationship, FWB, as soon as they all returned from Jeju Island. Everyone knows that the two have more between them than what they say, but they continue to deny any accusations of ‘feelings’ or ‘emotion’.

 

“Well, I didn’t need to hear you and Jeonghan doing it in my studio the other night when you thought I was gone, _again_ , and yet,” Jihoon grumbles, sliding into the seat next to Soonyoung, late as usual with a coffee in his hand.

 

Soonyoung smiles, smug, and steals a sip of Jihoon’s coffee. Jihoon quit trying to stop him from doing so about a month ago.

 

“I think it’s a great idea, Cheol,” Jeonghan chooses to ignore Jihoon’s comment in favor of properly greeting his _boyfriend_ with a hug and kiss. They made it official during the filming of the music video. Right before the director yelled ‘Action’ for one of the takes, Seungcheol whispered, “Jeonghan would you do me the honor of becoming my boyfriend, officially?”

 

Jeonghan _may_ have cried, but to be fair on him, it was a long day of shooting.

 

Mingyu lifts a puppy onto his lap and snuggles into its fur before piping up, “Let’s watch it at Seungkwan’s house! He’s got a projector and a mini theatre room.”

 

Seungkwan nods and gives the puppy a pet, “Any night is fine, but I’m too impatient so is everyone free tonight?”

 

A chorus of positives follows, with Wonwoo saying “I _was_ going to go see the new Quentin movie with Mingyu…” before he is quickly shut down with several glares, including one from Mingyu himself.

 

“Okay I’m just teasing, tonight sounds great,” he laughs, hands in the air, surrendering himself to the scornful stares.

 

Several hours later they pile into Seungkwan’s theatre room and throw themselves on beanbags, cushions, and couches. Vernon enters last with four bowls of popcorn, seating himself on top of Seungkwan before passing the bowls around. Seungkwan swaps their positions and does a head count.

 

“Okay, everybody ready?” Seungkwan asks, twirling the remote in the air.

 

“I’ve been ready for like a quarter of a year, Kwan, press play!” Soonyoung yells, dropping popcorn on Chan and Minghao who are swaddled in blankets next to him.

 

“No need to get fussy…” Seungkwan pouts and presses play.

 

They end up watching the music video over fourteen times, courtesy of Seokmin, who steals the remote and puts the video on loop as they all sob and congratulate Jeonghan, Seungcheol and Jihoon on their ‘masterpiece’. Jun refers to it as ‘a win for the gays’ and Jihoon treats that as the highest form of compliment. 

 

Just as they start to run out of tissues, Jihoon pauses the looped video and stands in front of them all. When they finally settle down—which doesn’t take long since Jihoon is mildly intimidating— he clears his throat.

 

“I’ve got some pretty exciting news for Jeonghan and I wanted to tell him in front of everyone,” Jihoon says, eyes glinting with hidden excitement.

 

“Aw, you’re so sentimental, Hoonie,” Soonyoung coos, but quickly ducks when Jihoon throws a fistful of popcorn at him.

 

“As I was saying,” Jihoon continues, “I sent the song to a few music labels around Seoul, and I heard back from a particularly enthusiastic sounding one called Pledis—“ Jihoon pauses as gasps fill the room and Seungcheol pulls a frozen Jeonghan into his lap.

 

“They said they loved the song and were wondering if they could schedule a meeting with you, Jeonghan, to discuss business matters,” Jihoon grins.

 

Jeonghan buries his face into Seungcheol’s chest and screams in excitement, as everyone dog piles onto him, yelling and cheering at the top of their lungs.

 

The rest of the night is spent celebrating, eating, drinking and more crying. Jeonghan is so thankful to have such a supportive bunch of friends and boyfriend, and when he pulls away from one of Seungcheol’s famous suffocating hugs, he knows he would never have made it without featuring Seungcheol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't hate me too much for ending it so abruptly, i felt like i really owed you guys some well-deserved closure but i was really keen to move on from this story :(( 
> 
>  
> 
> AND if you have ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL regarding the characters, the story, me, or anything else, don't hesitate to comment down below. nothing is off-limits owo
> 
> i love and appreciate everyone who took the time to read this fic, leave kudos or comment. 
> 
> stay happy and healthy in 2019, please.   
> thank you!!!!!!


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